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Courtesy American Magazine of Art 
Washington Monument, Washington, D.C. 

“ As I look out at this monument, I see it rise from that mound of earth, and 
strike up into the heavens. It stands in our national capital as the uplifted arm 
of a free people rising to the heavens as a national pledge, that we who have had 
the advantages of free institutions, that we who have in our hearts ideals of liberty 
and justice, will stand firm as stone and pledge our eternal loyalty to those ideals, 
to those mysterious things which go to make up a democracy. It is that spirit that 
makes America.”— Franklin K. Lane. 


















COMMUNITY CIVICS 

AND RURAL LIFE 







ARTHUR W. DUNN 

AUTHOR OF “THE COMMUNITY AND THE 
CITIZEN ” AND “ COMMUNITY CIVICS 
FOR CITY SCHOOLS” 


REVISED 



6 , 0 


D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 

BOSTON NEW YORK CHICAGO 

ATLANTA SAN FRANCISCO DALLAS 

LONDON 


Q* 




Copyright, 1920 and 1929, 
By D. C. Heath & Co. 


2 b 9 



•* 

Printed in U. S. A. 


APR -5 I32S 

©CIA 7258 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE 


This book, like the author’s earlier one, The Community and the 
Citizen , is a “community civics” text. Two purposes led to the 
preparation of this second volume. The first was to produce a 
text that would meet the needs of pupils and teachers who live out¬ 
side of the environment of the large city. Training for citizenship 
in a democracy is a fundamentally identical process in all com¬ 
munities, whether urban or rural. But, if it really functions in the 
life of the citizen, this process must consist largely in deriving edu¬ 
cational values from the actual civic situations in which he normally 
fin ds himself. Moreover, instruction that relates to matters that 
lie beyond immediate experience piust nevertheless be interpreted 
in terms of that experience if it is really to have meaning. At least 
half of the young citizens of America live in an environment that is 
essentially rural. Hence their need for civics instruction that takes 
its point of departure in, and refers back to, a body of experience 
that differs in many ways from that of the urban citizen. 

This does not imply that urban conditions should be ignored in 
the civic education of the rural citizen. On the contrary, one of the 
things that every citizen should be led to appreciate is the inter¬ 
dependence of country and city in a unified national life. In the 
present volume emphasis is given to this interdependence. For this 
reason, and because of the fundamental principles which have con¬ 
trolled the development of the text., it is believed that the book may 
perform a distinct service even in city schools. 

The second purpose in undertaking the present book has been to 
make as obvious as possible the elements which, in the author’s 
judgment, characterize “community civics” and give it vitality. 
The Community and the Citizen was a pioneer among texts that have 
sought to vitalize the study of government and citizenship. The 
term “community civics” became current only at a later time to 

iii 





INTRODUCTORY NOTE 


iv 

designate the “new civics” which that book represented. It seems 
to the author, however, that many teachers and others have seized 
upon some of the more incidental, even though important, features 
of the “new civics” without apparently recognizing its really vital 
characteristics. 

For example, the “new civics” performed a real service in giving 
emphasis to the study of the “local community,” which was being 
sadly neglected ten or fifteen years ago. It was this emphasis, 
doubtless, that gave rise to the name “community civics.” But 
“local study,” even though labelled “community civics,” may be, 
and often is, entirely lacking in vitalizing features. On the other 
hand, the vitalizing methods that should characterize community 
civics may be applied to the study of our “national community,” 
and even of the embryonic “world community,” — and should 
be so applied in any “community civics” that is worthy of a place 
in our schools in this critical period of national and world history. 
The real significance of the term “community civics” is to be found 
in its application to an interpretation of the community-character 
of national and international life equally with that of town or neighbor¬ 
hood. 

Another service that community civics performed was in intro¬ 
ducing certain elements of social or “sociological” study into grades 
as low as the grammar school. This has sometimes led to the de¬ 
scription of community civics as “elementary sociology.” The 
Community and the Citizen was perhaps the first “civics” textbook 
to include such “sociological” material. So far as that book is con¬ 
cerned, at least, the “sociological” material was included primarily 
to afford a viewpoint from which the better to interpret government 
and citizenship. This point seems often to be missed, with the re¬ 
sult that in some schools we find a more or less vitalized “social 
study” labelled “community civics,” followed by a formal study of 
government that shows no obvious, organic relation to the earlier 
study. Whatever else “community civics” may accomplish, 
one of its foremost aims should be to make government , including 
that of the nation , mean something to the young citizen. In the present 
book the author has endeavored to keep this aim prominent in the 
mind of the teacher. It is hoped that the organic relation of the last 


INTRODUCTORY NOTE 


V 


few chapters, which deal explicitly with governmental mechanism 
and operation, to the earlier chapters will be obvious. 

The underlying, vitalizing features of community civics may be 
summed up as: 

1. The demonstration to the young citizen, by reference to his own 
observation and experience, of the meaning of his community life (local 
and national ), and of government in its relation to that life; 

2. The cultivation of certain habits, ideals, and attitudes essential 
to effective participation in that life through government and otherwise. 

The aim of the following text is to fix in the pupil’s consciousness a 
few essential ideas, which will help to determine his ideals and atti¬ 
tudes, by a judicious use of facts, which will thereby be more readily 
remembered and understood. “The most important element of 
success in community life ... is team work; and team work de¬ 
pends, first of all, upon a common purpose ” (see page i). The 
controlling ideas throughout the following chapters are: 

1. The common purposes in our community life; 

2. Our interdependence in attaining these common purposes; 

3. The consequent necessity for cooperation (team work); 

4. Government as a means of securing team work for the common 
good. 

These ideas are set up in the first few chapters and exemplified 
in the remaining chapters. They are easily grasped by young 
citizens when demonstrated by reference to their own observation and 
experience, which the text and the accompanying topics seek as far 
as possible to compel. The last few chapters contain an analysis 
of our governmental mechanism which seeks to answer the ques¬ 
tion, How far does our government provide the organization, the 
leadership, and the control over leadership necessary to secure 
the team work which the preceding chapters have shown to be 
essential ? 

The present volume is larger than The Community and the Citizen. 
The author believes that this is an advantage, especially for pupils 
in communities where supplementary materials are not so easily 
available. The increased length is due chiefly to the liberal incor- 


VI 


INTRODUCTORY NOTE 


poration of concrete illustrative and explanatory matter. Young 
students need larger textbooks, provided the additional matter 
clothes the skeleton with living flesh. 

Whether based on this textbook or some other, however, com¬ 
munity civics cannot be successfully taught if it is made primarily 
a textbook study. The word “ demonstration ” has been used ad¬ 
visedly in the paragraphs above as applied to the ideas to be taught. 
The text sets up ideas, interprets and exemplifies them; but “dem¬ 
onstration” can be made only as the pupils draw upon their own 
observation and experience. Hence, numerous suggestive topics are 
interspersed throughout to divert attention from the text and to 
direct it to the actualities of the pupils’ experience. Even the topics 
should not be followed literally in every case, but should be diver¬ 
sified to meet the needs and opportunities of the occasion. But to 
“omit” such studies as suggested by the topics is to negative the 
value of community civics. 

The successful teacher will seek to extend the pupil’s opportunity 
to participate in group activities both within the school and in the 
community outside, and will make the fullest possible use of such 
activities both as a means of demonstrating the operation of the 
fundamental principles of civic life, and as a means of cultivating 
“habits, ideals, and attitudes.” “Training for citizenship through 
service ” is an essential factor in community civics. 

“Community civics” has now been quite definitely assigned to the 
junior high school grades (see Report of Committee on Social Studies, 
Bulletin, 1916, No. 28, U. S. Bureau of Education). While the ten¬ 
dency is toward continuous civics instruction in all of these grades, 
practice still varies greatly. The present text has been written in 
recognition of this variation and is, in the author’s judgment, adapt¬ 
able to any of the grades in question. If community civics is placed 
below the ninth grade, however, the author would suggest its distri¬ 
bution over both seventh and eighth grades. An outline suggesting a 
vital coordination between the civics and the history of these grades, 
and of particular service in the seventh grade, is given in United States 
Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1919, No. 50, Part 3 (a report on Civic 
Education for the Schools of Memphis, Tenn.). ' 

It may be added that community civics in the junior high school 


INTRODUCTORY NOTE 


vii 


grades will be vastly more effective if it is preceded in the six ele¬ 
mentary grades by some such course as that outlined in Citizenship 
in School and Out (Dunn and Harris, published by D. C. Heath & 
Company). See also Lessons in Civics for the Six Elementary Grades 
of City Schools, by Hannah Margaret Harris (Bulletin, 1920, No. 18, 
U. S. Bureau of Education). 

A list of “Readings” is appended to each of the following chapters. 
While it is not expected that pupils in the grades for which the book 
is intended will do a great deal of reading outside of the text, an 
abundance of illustrative material is desirable and much more easily 
available, even for rural schools, than is often appreciated. Let the 
pupils use their government , in this connection, as freely as possible. 
A very large part of the references given are to government publi¬ 
cations, many of which can be obtained free of cost directly from the 
departments issuing them, and all of which can be had for a nominal 
cost from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing 
Office, Washington, D.C. Useful publications of the state govern¬ 
ment and of state institutions can usually be had for the asking. In 
ordering from the Superintendent of Documents the money must be 
sent in advance (stamps are not accepted). Lists of publications 
with the prices may be obtained from the Superintendent of Docu¬ 
ments, or from the several Departments of the Government. 

Frequent reference is made to Lessons in Community and National 
Life. These are issued in three pamphlets (Series A, B, and C) by the 
United States Bureau of Education, at 15 cents per pamphlet. They 
contain a large amount of illustrative material. A very few books 
are referred to in certain chapters because of their especial value 
when obtainable. Among these are two collections of patriotic 
selections valuable because of their emphasis upon national ideals — 
Long’s American Patriotic Prose (D. C. Heath & Company), and 
Foerster and Pierson’s American Ideals (Houghton Mifflin Company). 
Other s imil ar collections will be found useful. 

The illustrations of the book, with comparatively few exceptions, 
are from photographs furnished by various departments of the United 
States Government. 


ARTHUR W. DUNN. 


NOTE TO REVISED EDITION 

Having assembled and organized the material and having 
worked with the author in the revision of Community Civics for 
City Schools , I have undertaken to revise this text in a similar 
manner. 

What the author wrote in his note to the revised edition for 
city schools holds for this revision also : 

“All statistical material and statements of fact in this volume 
have been carefully revised in accordance with the latest infor¬ 
mation available. Community Civics was originally written im¬ 
mediately following the World War, and naturally reflected 
strongly the experiences of that period. In the present revision, 
while pains have been taken not to lose the value of lessons 
taught by the war, parts of the book have been rewritten with 
an emphasis and a perspective more in harmony with the 
present.” 

Theodore S. Dunn 

New Britain, Conn. 

July i, 1928 


viii 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Our Common Purposes in Community Life . . i 

II. How We Depend upon One Another in Community 

Life . . . . . . . . . .12 

III. The Need for Cooperation in Community Life . 24 

IV. Why We Have Government.40 

V. What Is Citizenship?.53 

VI. What Is Our Community?.58 

VII. Our National Community.67 

VIII. A World Community.86 

IX. The Home.98 

X. Why Government Helps in Home Making . . .112 

XI. Earning a Living.123 

XII. Government as a Means of Cooperation in Agricul¬ 
ture . . . . . . . . . . 141 

XIII. Thrift.165 

XIV. The Relation between the People and the Land . 190 

XV. Conserving. Our Natural Resources . . . .210 

XVI. Protection of Property and Property Rights . .231 

XVII. Roads and Transportation.248 

XVIII. Communication.272 

XIX. Education.286 

XX. The Community’s Health.309 

XXI. Social, .Esthetic, and Spiritual Wants . . .329 

XXII. Dependent, Defective, and Delinquent Members 

of the Community.350 

XXIII. Teamwork in Taxation.364 

XXIV. How We Govern Ourselves.376 


IX 








X 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

XXV. Our Local Governments. 395 

XXVI. Our State Governments. 419 

XXVII. Our National Government. 443 

Appendix — The Constitution oe the United States . . 475 

Index ............ 491 



COMMUNITY CIVICS 


CHAPTER I 

OUR COMMON PURPOSES IN COMMUNITY LIFE 

The most important element of success in community life, 
as in a ball game, a family, or a school, is team work; and team 
work depends, first of all, upon a common purpose. Team work 
Our nation gave an exhibition of team work during and common 
the recent World War such as is seldom seen be- purposes 
cause every member of the nation was keenly intent on winning. 
We may see something similar in school when a Christmas 
entertainment is being planned, when an athletic tournament 
is approaching, or when some other school activity is under 
way in which there is a common interest. It is often illustrated 
in our town, or rural neighborhood, when some important en¬ 
terprise is on foot, such as the building of a new railroad into 
town, a Red Cross “drive,” a county fair, or the construction 
of a much needed new schoolhouse. 

All communities have common purposes, although they are 
not always as clearly defined as when our nation was at war, 
or as in the other cases mentioned in the preceding Recognition 
paragraph. Sometimes the people of a community, of common 
or a large portion of them, seem to be wholly un- purposes 
conscious that a common purpose exists. This may be true 
even in a family or in a school. And when this happens, the 
effect is the same as if there were no common purpose. No 


2 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


club or athletic team can be successful unless its members have 
a common purpose and understand it. In so far as our com¬ 
munities are imperfect — and none of them is perfect — it is 
largely because their members fail to recognize or understand 
their common purposes. 

People in communities have common purposes because they 
have the same wants. This may not at first seem to be true. 

Common pur- ^ we a ^ ar S e we see throngs of people 
poses due to hurrying hither and thither, jostling one another, 
common wants a pp aren tly j n the greatest confusion. We wonder 
where they are all going, what they are doing, what they are 
seeking. In rural communities or in small towns there is less 
apparent confusion than in the bustling life of the city. Yet 
even here it is not always easy to see common purposes and 
common interests. Whether in large or small communities, 
we are more likely to be impressed by the variety of men’s wants 
and even by the conflict of their purposes. 

But no matter how numerous and conflicting our wants may 
seem, they may all be grouped in a very few important kinds, 
which are common to all of us alike. It will be worth while to 
test the truth of this, because it will help us to see our com¬ 
munity life in some kind of order, and will throw a flood of 
light upon the common purposes that control it. 

For example, we all want food, drink, and sleep, clothing to 
protect our bodies, and houses to shelter us. But all these 
Physical things supply our physical wants; that is, they re¬ 
wants: life late to life and health. Many of the things that we 
and health do every day are important because of their relation 
to our physical well-being. One reason why we enjoy out-of- 
door sports is that they make our blood tingle and give a sense 
of physical pleasure. Unless our physical wants are provided 
for, the other wants of life cannot well be satisfied. Good 
health is a priceless possession. 

Mention some things you have done to-day for your physical welfare. 



COMMON PURPOSES IN COMMUNITY LIFE 3 

Another reason why sports and games give pleasure is be¬ 
cause of the association they afford with other people. Associa¬ 
tion with others is a second great want which explains The want for 
many of the things we do. Whatever may be our association 
other reasons for going to school, it affords us the others 
opportunity to meet and work and play with other boys and 
girls to our pleasure and profit. One of the objections often 
raised against life in the country is the lack of opportunity for 


“Inspired by a Common Purpose” 

association with other people. But life in the country is not 
so isolated as it once was; and one may be very much alone in 
a city crowd, where nearly all are strangers to one another, 
and where there is very little real association among individuals. 
City families often live in the same apartment house without 
knowing one another. 

What are some things you do especially for the sake of companionship? 

While going to school enables us to associate with others, the 
principal reason for going is to gain knowledge. Whether we 







4 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


always like our studies or not, we certainly want knowledge, 
and seek it in many ways. We read the newspaper or maga- 
The want z ^ ne ^ at comes to the home. We ask questions 
for of parents and others who have had more experience 

knowledge than we. We may travel to see new sights. We 
examine with curiosity a new machine for the farm. The dis¬ 
coveries and inventions that mark man’s progress in civilization 
are the result of his unquenchable thirst for knowledge. 

Mention some of the different ways in which you seek knowledge. 

Mention some geographic and scientific discoveries that have been made 
through men’s search for knowledge. 

What is science? Name some sciences. 

Besides health and knowledge and association with other 
people, we want surroundings that are pleasant and beautiful. 
The want The want for beauty is sometimes more neglected 
for beauty than other wants, but it is important, and we all 
have it and seek to satisfy it in some way or other. It may 
be at one time by a walk in the woods or fields, or at other times 
by cultivating flowers, by keeping our room tidy, by looking 
at pictures, or by exercising good taste in clothing. We also 
enjoy beauty in sound, as the song of birds or music in the 
home or school. 

In what ways do you provide for this want ? 

Very likely we go to church on Sunday. It affords 
opportunity to enjoy association with others, to add to 
The religious our knowledge, and to hear beautiful music, 
want But the church service is one of the chief means 

by which people satisfy another of the great wants of life 
— the religious want. Individuals differ in their religious 
Ideas and in the depth of their religious feeling, but in 
every community there are certain things that men do because 
of it. 


COMMON PURPOSES IN COMMUNITY LIFE 


5 


What are some of the great religions of the world? 

Is religion a strong influence in your community? 

Can you mention any great historical events that were due to religious 
causes? 

Perhaps after school, or on Saturdays, or in vacation time, 
we work at tasks to earn money, or at least help in occupations 
that contribute to the “living” of the family. The want 
Doubtless we have thought more or less about for wealth 
what we are going to do for a living after we leave school. We 



Team Work in a Great Cause 

“Everyone who creates or cultivates a garden helps, and helps greatly, to solve 
the problem of the feeding of the nations.” — Woodrow Wilson. 


all have a desire to own things, to have property, to accumulate 
wealth. This also is one of the great wants of life. We have 
perhaps already experienced the satisfaction of raising our own 
first crop of corn or potatoes, of acquiring our first livestock, 
of putting away or selling our first supply of canned fruits or 
vegetables, of buying a set of tools, a bicycle, or some books, 
of starting a bank account. But after all the chief reason why 
we want wealth, or to “make money,” is because of what we 
can do with it. It enables us to satisfy our wants. Earning a 









6 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


living simply means earning the things that satisfy our wants 
in life. 

Make a blackboard list of the occupations by which the parents and other 
members of the families of the pupils in the class make a living. 

Make a blackboard list of things done by members of the class to earn 
money. 

What is your choice of occupation by which to make a living in the 
future? Why? Make blackboard list for the whole class. 

The six kinds of wants that we have indicated clearly account 
for many of the things that we do. In fact, all of our wants 
are of one or other of these kinds and everything 

These \^3,nts 

give purpose we do is important because of its relation to them, 
to community \Ye ma y no t be ready, yet, to accept this state¬ 
ment. We may think of wants that seem at first 
not to fall under any of these six kinds. It will do no harm to 
add other kinds to the list if we think it necessary. But, at 
all events, the six kinds of wants mentioned are common to 
all of us. We live in communities in order to provide for them, 
and a community is good to live in in proportion as it provides 
for all of them adequately. It is these wants that give common 
purpose to our community life. 

Make as complete a list as possible of the things you did yesterday 
(outside of school as well as in school). Then extend the list to include 
the more important things done during the entire week. 

Write the six wants across the top of a page of your notebook or a sheet 
of paper: 

Health Knowledge Association Beauty Religion Wealth 

Arrange the activities in your list in the six columns according to the 
wants which they satisfy. If any activity clearly satisfies more than one 
of the wants, write it down in each of the proper columns. 

Which column is the longest? which comes next? which is the 
shortest? 

Is your longest column also the longest in the lists made by other members 
of your class? Compare your other columns with those of your classmates. 
Which wants seem to keep you busiest? 


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COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Which do you think is most important? Why? Discuss this question 
in class. Do you all agree in regard to this point? 

If any of the activities in your list are for the purpose of earning 
money, tell for what you expect to spend the money. Show how the 
things you expect to buy with your money will help to satisfy your other 
five wants. 

For which of these six wants do you spend the most time in providing? 
your father? your mother? If there is a difference in the three answers, 
why is it ? 

Do you have difficulty in classifying any of the things you do, or that 
you see others do, under any of the six heads? Make note of these things 
and, as your study proceeds, see if the difficulty of classification is 
removed. 

Suppose a boy is a bully: what wants does he satisfy by his bullying 
conduct? Suppose a boy or a girl is ambitious to become a leader , either 
among present companions or later in social life, business, or politics: under 
which head or heads would you place this ambition ? 

A boy wants to enlist in the army, or a girl as an army nurse: do these 
wants come under any of the six heads? 

Would you, .after your discussion of these topics, add any other group 
or kind of wants to the six mentioned? If so, what would you call it? 

Every one wants happiness. Why is it not necessary to make a special 
group under this head? 

Make a list of things done in your home to provide for each of the six 
wants. 

What is done in your school to provide for the want for health? for 
beauty? for association with others? for the religious want? Has your 
school work any relation to your desire to make a living ? Is it the business 
of the school to provide for all these things as well as for the want for knowl¬ 
edge? 

Make a list of a few things done in your community outside of the home 
and school to provide for each of the six wants. 

Think of something in which your entire community is deeply interested, 
such as the improvement of the roads, or the building of a new high school, 
or a county fair, and explain what wants it provides for. 

What wants do the following things provide for: rural mail delivery; 
weather reports; a com club (or a similar club); a school garden; a library; 
the telephone; a hospital; a parent-teacher association? 

We may often hear our common purposes as communities 
or as a nation stated in different terms than those suggested in 


COMMON PURPOSES IN COMMUNITY LIFE 


9 


the paragraphs above. For example, Franklin K. Lane, Secre¬ 
tary of the Interior during the World War, said, “Our national 
purpose is to transmute days of dreary work into The purpose 
happier lives — for ourselves first and for all others of democracy 
in their time.” Again, President Wilson said that our purpose 
in entering the war was to help “make the world safe for democ¬ 
racy.” Although these two statements read differently, they 
mean very much the same thing; and they both refer in general 
terms to the things this chapter discusses in more familiar and 
express terms. For “happier lives” can only result from a 
more complete satisfaction of our common wants. Our own 
happiness comes from the satisfaction of our own wants and 
from helping to satisfy the wants of others. And “democracy” 
means, in part, that the common wants of all shall be properly 
provided for. 

In the Declaration of Independence we read: 

We hold these truths to he self-evident , that all men are created equal , that 
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights , that among 
these are life , liberty and the pursuit of happiness. 

The statement that “all men are created equal” has troubled 
many people when they have thought of the obvious inequali¬ 
ties that exist in natural ability and opportunity. Qur un _ 

But whatever inequalities may exist, people are alienable 
absolutely equal in their right to satisfy the wants nghts 
described in this chapter. These are the “unalienable rights” 
which the Declaration of Independence sums up in the phrase 
“life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” That community 
is best to live in that most nearly provides equal opportunity 
for all its citizens to enjoy these rights. From the Declaration 
of Independence to the present day our great national purpose 
has been to increase this opportunity, even though at times 
we have apparently not been conscious of it, and even though 
we have fallen short of its fulfillment. One of the chief objects 


10 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


of our study is to find out how our communities are seeking to 
accomplish this purpose. 

“The Declaration of Independence did not mention the questions of our 
day. It is of no consequence to us unless we can translate its general terms 
into examples of the present day and substitute them in some vital way for 
the examples it itself gives, so concrete, so intimately involved in the cir¬ 
cumstances of the day in which it was conceived and written. It is an 
eminently practical document, meant for the use of practical men. . . . 
Unless we can translate it into the questions of our own day, we are not 
worthy of it, we are not sons of the sires who acted in response to its chal¬ 
lenge.”— Woodrow Wilson, in The New Freedom , pp. 48, 49. 

A and B are two boys of the same age. One was born in a rich family, 
and one in a very poor family. So far as this accident of birth is concerned, 
have they equal opportunity to satisfy the wants of life? Have they an 
equal right to health? to an education? to pleasant surroundings? to earn 
a good living? 

Suppose A is a native American boy, and B a foreign-born boy who speaks 
a foreign language: does this make any difference in their right to life and 
health, an education, etc. ? Does it make any difference in their opportunity 
to satisfy their wants in these directions? 

Can you think of persons in your community who have less opportunity 
to satisfy their wants than you have? Can you think of any persons who 
have less right to satisfy their wants than you have ? 

The first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States com¬ 
prise what is known as a “bill of rights.” Study together in class this bill of 
rights (see Appendix) to see how many of the wants described in this chapter 
are there provided for directly and indirectly. 

Has your state constitution a bill of rights? If so, read it together in 
class for the same purpose as suggested in the last question. 

READINGS 

Preamble of the Constitution of the United States (see Appendix). 

The Declaration of Independence. 

The Story of the Declaration of Independence, U. S. Bureau of Education, 1926. 

(Government Printing Office, 5 cents.) 

Dunn, Arthur W., The Community and the Citizen, chaps, i, iv (Heath). 

Tufts, James H., The Real Business of Living (Henry Holt & Co.), chap, xxxix 
(“Democracy as Equality”). 

Van Dyke, Henry, “Equality of Opportunity,” in Long’s American Patriotic Prose, 
pp. 311, 312 (Heath). 

See the note on reference materials in the Introduction to this book. 


COMMON PURPOSES IN COMMUNITY LIFE 


II 


It should become a habit of both teacher and pupils to be on the constant 
lookout for news items and discussions in available newspapers and periodi¬ 
cals illustrative of the points made in each chapter or lesson. Individual 
scrapbooks may be made; but more important than this is the assembling 
of such material as a class enterprise, its classification under proper heads, 
and its preservation in scrapbooks or in files as working material for suc¬ 
ceeding classes. There will always be enough for each class to do, while 
each class at the same time contributes to the success of the work of later 
classes. The idea of service should dominate such work. 


CHAPTER II 


HOW WE DEPEND UPON ONE ANOTHER IN 
COMMUNITY LIFE 

Nothing could be freer than air. But, even as we sit in 
our schoolroom, whether or not we get all the pure air we need 
ltd d depends upon how the schoolhouse was built for 
ence an ventilation, the number of people who occupy the 

important room, the care that is taken by others to keep 

the room free from dust, the health and cleanliness 
of those who sit in the room with us. If this dependence upon 
others is true in the case of the very air we breathe, how much 
more true it must be of other necessaries of life that are not so 
abundant. 

This dependence of people upon one another is one of the 
most important facts about community life. It is not merely 
because we have the same wants, but because we are dependent 
upon one another for their satisfaction, that gives us common 
purposes and necessitates team work. 

Mention the people, both inside and outside of your home, who had a 
share in providing for you the food you had for breakfast or dinner. 

Mention all the workers that occur to you who have been employed in 
producing for you the clothing you wear; the book you are reading; the 
materials of which your house is built. 

Show how the people who produce these things are dependent upon your 
wants for their livelihood. 

Show that you are dependent upon other people for your education; 
for recreation. Are other people dependent upon your education for their 
welfare? Are others dependent on you for their recreation? 

The farmer’s life is often spoken of as an independent life. 
Independence His independence was certainly much more com- 
ofthe plete in pioneer days than it is now. In regard 

pioneer to th e early days of Indiana it has been said: 

12 


HOW WE DEPEND UPON ONE ANOTHER 


13 



Courtesy American Magazine of Art. 

The Pioneer 


Statue at the University of Oregon 

“He landed at Plymouth Rock and with his dull-eyed oxen has made the long, 
long journey across our continent. His way has been hard, slow, momentous. 
“Without him we would not be here. 

“His is this one glory — he found the way.” — Franklin K. Lane. 










14 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Give the pioneer farmer an ax and an auger, or in place of the last a 
burning iron, and he could make almost any machine that he was wont to 
work with. With his sharp ax he could not only cut the logs for his cabin 
and notch them down, but he could make a close-fitting door and supply 
it with wooden hinges and a neat latch. From the roots of an oak or ash 
he could fashion his hames and sled runners; he could make an axle-tree 
for his wagon, a rake, a flax brake, a barrow, a scythe-snath, a grain cradle, 
a pitchfork, a loom, a reel, a washboard, a stool, a chair, a table, a bedstead, 
a dresser, and a cradle in which to rock the baby. If he was more than ordi¬ 
narily clever he repaired his own cooperage, and adding a drawing knife to 
his kit of tools, he even went so far as to make his own casks, tubs, and 
buckets. He made and mended his own shoes. 1 

We also read that in early New England 

Every farmhouse was a manufactory, not of one kind of goods, but of 
many. All day long in the chamber or attic the sound of the spinning-wheel 
and loom could be heard. Carpets, shawls, bed-spreads, table-covers, 
towels, and cloth for garments were made from materials made on the farm. 
The kitchen of the house was a baker’s shop, a confectioner’s establishment, 
and a chemist’s laboratory. Every kind of food for immediate use was 
prepared there daily; and on special occasions sausages, head cheese, pickles, 
apple butter, and preserves were made. It was also the place where soap, 
candles, and vinegar were manufactured. Agricultural implements were 
then few and simple, and farmers made as many of them as they could. 
Every farmhouse was a creamery and cheese factory. As there were no 
sewing machines, the farmer’s wife and daughters had to ply the hand 
needle most of the time when they were not engaged in more laborious 
pursuits. During the long evenings they generally knit socks and mittens 
or made rag carpets. 2 

But even under such conditions as those described, the 
farmer and his family were not wholly independent. Even 
The price of Robinson Crusoe on his lonely island was depend- 
independence en t upon the tools and equipment that he saved 
from shipwreck, and that were the product of other men’s 
labor. So, also, the pioneer farmer had to maintain some kind 

1 Quoted in Pioneer Indianapolis, by Ida Stearns Stickney, p. n (Bobbs-Merrill 
Co., Indianapolis). 

2 Nourse, Agricultural Economics, p. 64, from “The Farmer’s Changed Condi¬ 
tions,” by Rodney Welsh, in the Forum, x, 689-92 (Feb., 1891). 


HOW WE DEPEND UPON ONE ANOTHER 15 

of relation, however infrequent and slight, with the outside 
world. Moreover, he had to pay for his comparative inde¬ 
pendence by many privations. He had all the wants described 
in the preceding chapter, but he had to provide for them in 
the simplest way possible, and often they were hardly provided 
for at all. 

As soon as a number of people come to live together, even in 
a pioneer community, it is likely that some members will have 
a knack for doing certain things of use to the The 
community better than others can do them, of inter- 
Thus one man may be especially skillful in making de P endence 
ax handles. In time, the entire community comes to depend 
upon him for its ax handles. In addition, he probably makes 
other tools and does repair work of all kinds. This requires 
so much of his time that he does little or no farming, and de¬ 
pends upon others for his food supply. So, in the course of 
time, the community has its blacksmiths, carpenters, shoe¬ 
makers, teachers, storekeepers, doctors, upon whom it depends 
for their special kinds of service, while each of them depends 
upon others to supply the wants that he has neither the time 
nor the skill to supply for himself. Thus interdependence 
develops in the simplest communities. 

The farmer still does many things on the farm that in the 
city would be done by special workers, such as repairing house, 
barn, and tools. But he has become vastly more 
dependent upon others than formerly. This is enceon* 611 ^ 
due partly to improved farming methods, requiring others of 
the use of complicated machines and greater tech- farm^r dCrn 
nical knowledge; and partly to improved means 
of transportation and communication which bring him in close 
touch with trade centers. If a farmer needs a new ax handle, 
he can get a better one with less expenditure of time and effort 
by going to town in his automobile than if he made it himself. 
His farm machinery is too complicated for him to repair except 


i6 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


in small matters, and even then he must go or send to town for 
the necessary parts, which may be sent to him by parcel post. 
Not only does he get better tools and better service generally 
through this reliance upon others who are specialists in their 
lines, but he also on account of it has more time to give to the 
actual business of farming, for which others depend upon him, 
and leisure for thoughtful study of his problems, for social life, 
and for recreation. 



Isolation 

A pioneer homestead on the prairies. 

It must be acknowledged that reliance upon others may be 
carried so far as to result in loss or disadvantage. “Self- 
reliance” is one of the most admirable traits of 
character. The pioneer farmer possessed it from 
necessity to a remarkable extent. A habit of 
depending upon others may quickly cause a person to lose the 
“knack” of doing things for himself, to become less “handy 
about the place,” and less “thrifty” about keeping things in 
repair or installing small improvements — the casting of a 
cement trough, mending the harness or the fence, painting the 
barn. 


The value 
of self- 
reliance 



HOW WE DEPEND UPON ONE ANOTHER 


17 


The interdependence of people in community life to-day may 
be illustrated by starting with some one of our own needs, 
as was suggested in the topics on page 12. For who makes 
example, if we need a pair of shoes, we must have our shoes 
money, which we will suppose that we earn by farming. In 
order to farm successfully we must have machinery. This we 
also buy in town; but it is manufactured for us in distant city 
factories from metals procured from mines and from wood from 
the forest. The shoes bought at the store were also made in a 
factory employing hundreds of men and women, perhaps in 
Massachusetts. They were made from leather from the hides 
of cattle raised in the far West, or perhaps even in the Argentine 
Republic. The leather is tanned by another industry, and 
tanning requires the use of an acid from the bark of certain 
trees from the forest. The making of the shoes also requires 
machinery which is made by still other machines, the necessary 
metals coming from mines. To smelt the metals and to run 
the factories there must be fuel from other mines. Meanwhile 
the workers in all these industries must be fed and clothed and 
housed. This means the work of farmers, food packers, millers 
and bakers, lumbermen, carpenters, cotton and woolen mills, 
clothing factories, and many others. At every stage transpor¬ 
tation enters in, — by team and automobile truck, by railway, 
by water. These are only a part of the activities necessary in 
order that we may have a pair of shoes. It would seem that 
practically every kind of worker and industry in the world 
had something to do with it. People in communities to-day 
are indeed very interdependent. 

The following item appeared in a newspaper: 

Held Back by Neighbors 
Farmer Is Limited by Conditions in Community 

The average fanner is limited in the changes he can make in his farm 
business by the farm practices of the community in which he is living. 


i8 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


There are farmers in every community who would like to change their 
systems of agriculture but are restrained from doing so by the fact that their 
neighbors will not change. Many farmers have tried to change from one 
type of farming to another better suited to the region, but failed because 
the cost of running such an entirely independent business was too great. 

A man owning an orchard in a locality where there are no other orchards 
has trouble in getting rid of his crop. Even when the farmer is so fortunate 
as to get buyers, he generally receives a lower price for the same grade of 
fruit than would be received in a general apple-growing region. 

If a man wants to buy several pure-bred Holstein cows, he generally goes 
to a locality where a large number of farmers keep that kind of stock. 
Often there is a man in his own community who has for sale Holsteins that 
are just as highly bred as those in other districts, but he either has no market 
for them or must sell them at a greatly reduced price. 

The farmer ought not to think on account of these facts that he should 
not change his system of farming just because his neighbors do not do like¬ 
wise. 

Probably the best way for a farmer to start such a movement is to arouse 
the interest of his neighbors in his farming operations. As soon as this 
has been accomplished he can gradually bring about the change that he 
advocates. Farmers in a community profit from the experiences of other 
individuals. 

The value of a man’s property is dependent not upon his 
own efforts alone, but upon what his neighbors do. The land 
What gives occupied by a pioneer increases in value as other 
value to people settle in the neighborhood, and because they 
settle there. Men often buy land and then simply 
wait for it to increase in value because of improvements in the 
neighborhood. The property that we own may increase or 
decrease in value according to the care that neighbors take of 
their property. Even if we take good care of our property, 
it will be less valuable if the neighbors let their fences and 
buildings run down and the weeds grow than it will be if they 
keep their fences and buildings in good repair and their weeds 
cut. 

Malaria is carried by mosquitoes, and we know that mosqui¬ 
toes breed in standing water, as in swamps and in old barrels 


HOW WE DEPEND UPON ONE ANOTHER 


19 


or tin cans that hold rainwater until it becomes stagnant. 
Now we may endeavor to get rid of mosquitoes, and thus 
of malaria, by removing all open receptacles of Interdel . 
water about our premises and by draining the pendence in 
marshes on our land; but unless our neighbors do health 
the same, we are not much better off than we were before. A 
family that is careless in the disposal of refuse from the house¬ 
hold or stables may unconsciously poison the wells of neighbors 
half a mile away. 

Give other illustrations to show the dependence of people upon one another 
in your community. 

Compare the farmer of to-day in your neighborhood with the pioneer of 
Indiana described on page 14 with respect to his equipment, skill in making 
things, kinds of implements used. 

Compare the average farmer’s home in your neighborhood to-day with 
that of the New England farmer described on page 14 with respect to house¬ 
hold activities. 

Are farmers in your neighborhood to-day more or less dependent upon 
others to supply their wants than they were when your parents were children ? 
Why is it ? Get all the information you can from your parents on this point. 

Which is more dependent upon others for its daily wants, a family that 
lives on a farm in your neighborhood or one that lives in town? Give 
examples to prove your answer. 

Do you know cases in your own community where land has increased 
in value while lying idle ? What are the reasons ? 

Do you know of cases in your community where property has depreciated 
in value because of neighborhood influences such as suggested on page 18? 

Do you know of cases in your community similar to the one described 
on page 17 under the heading “Held Back by Neighbors”? Explain. 
(Consult at home.) 

We do not always realize how dependent we are upon one 
another until something happens to disturb our accustomed 
relations; just as we best appreciate our depend- interdepend¬ 
ence upon the telephone and the automobile when e . nc ® er np ha - 

. - 1 . sized when 

they are out of order. Disasters anywhere in our things go 

country, like the great storms in Florida in 1926 and wrong 

1928 or the flood in the lower Mississippi Valley in 1927, more 


20 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 




Tools of the Modern Farmer 


Above: A gang plow operated by steam and plowing ten furrows at a time. 
Below: Putting in a crop of grain on land too soft for horses. This enormous ma¬ 
chine is operated by steam. 

Contrast this equipment with that of the farmer described on page 14. 










HOW WE DEPEND UPON ONE ANOTHER 


21 


or less directly disturb the life of the entire nation. It is 
interesting to observe the prompt response with which every 
community, and almost every individual, reacts to such an injury 
in some particular locality. It suggests the automatic response 
of every member of our bodies to relieve an injury to some one 
member. So a war, even in some remote part of the world, or 
a drought in some important agricultural region, affects the 
entire world and almost every individual in it. 

When people are so closely dependent upon one another 
conflicts are likely to occur. Sometimes they are due to selfish 
disregard by some persons of the rights and in- Conflicts due 
terests of others; but more often they are due to interde- 
simply to failure to see what the real results of a pendence 
particular act may be and how it may affect other people. 
Sometimes men oppose public improvements, such as better 
roads, or a new schoolhouse, because they see only the direct 
money cost of the improvements, and fail to see more far- 
reaching losses to themselves and to the community that will 
occur if the improvements are not made. 

One thing that we may learn from such facts as these is the 
danger of forming hasty judgments about things that happen, 
or conditions that exist, or proposals that are Danger of 
made, in our community life. Even those condi- hasty 
tions or events that are apparently most simple J ud s ments 
may be related to other conditions and events that are not at 
first apparent. Wise judgment and wise action are dependent 
upon the most complete knowledge obtainable. 

Another result of this fact in interdependence in community 
life is that it places certain restrictions upon our liberty, which 
is said by the Declaration of Independence to be Interde 
one of the “unalienable rights” of all men. If pendence 
any member of the community had absolute lib- 
erty to do as he pleased, he would soon interfere 
with the rights of others. Then what would become of the 


22 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


‘ ‘ equality ’ ’ which the D eclaration also proclaims ? Equal liberty 
for all is the aim of democracy, and this can be obtained 
only when each acts with full regard for the rights of others. 
This is what is meant by “justice.” “Liberty,” “justice,” 
“equality,” — these are essential in a democracy. But they 
are often misunderstood. 

“What is liberty? I have long had an image in my mind of what con¬ 
stitutes liberty. Suppose that I were to build a great piece of powerful 
machinery, and suppose that I should so awkwardly and unskillfully assemble 
the parts of it that every time one part tried to move it would be interfered 
with by others. Liberty for the several parts would consist in the best 
possible assembling and adjustment of them all, would it not? That is 
liberty! You say of the locomotive — it runs free. What do you mean? 
You mean that its parts are so assembled and adjusted that friction is reduced 
to the minimum, and that it has perfect adjustment. . . . Human freedom 
consists in perfect adjustments of human interests and human activities 
and human energies.” 

— Woodrow Wilson, The New Freedom, p. 282. 

We shall see, as we proceed with our study, how this fact of 
interdependence appears in every phase of our community life. 

From observation in your own community, give illustrations to show 
how people, in attempting to satisfy their own wants, may interfere with the 
efforts of others to satisfy theirs. The following are given as suggestions : 

An employer and those whom he employs. 

A man who owns a house or farm and the tenant to whom he rents it. 

A man who keeps a livery stable adjoining a schoolhouse. 

A grocer who displays his goods on the sidewalk (especially food products). 

Men who raise cattle and those who raise sheep on the western ranges. 

A boy who raises chickens and one who has a garden adjoining. 

Suppose a schoolmate comes to school with measles or some other con¬ 
tagious disease. How may this affect your school work? your association 
with your friends ? How may it even add to your father’s expenses ? 

Show that your schoolmates are as dependent upon you as you are upon 
them. 

Is the community in which you live dependent upon you in any way? 
Give illustrations. 


HOW WE DEPEND UPON ONE ANOTHER 


23 


Taxpayers like to keep the tax rate as low as possible. In their interest 
in doing this, is it possible that they might interfere with your getting a good 
education in favorable surroundings? Explain. Who are the taxpayers? 

We often hear of “self-made men.” What does it mean? Can a man 
be entirely “self-made”? 

Does a child become more or less dependent upon others as he grows 
older? Explain your answer. 

Show that as a person becomes more “self-dependent” other people 
become more dependent upon him; for example, in the home, and in 
school. 

Watch the newspapers for items illustrating interdependence, or conflicts 
due to it. 


READINGS 

Lessons in Community and National Life (see note on reference materials in Intro¬ 
duction, 

Series A: Lesson 1, Some fundamental aspects of social organization. 

Lesson 2, The western pioneer. 

Series B : Lesson 1, The effect of the war on commerce in nitrate. 

Lesson 2, The varied occupations of a colonial farm. 

Lesson 12, Impersonality of modern life. 

Series C: Lesson 1, The war and aeroplanes. 

Lesson 2, Spinning and dyeing in colonial times. 

Lesson g, Inventions. 

Lesson n, The effects of machinery on rural life. 

Dunn, Arthur W., The Community and the Citizen, chaps, i, v. 

Tufts, James H., The Real Business of Living, chap, xxxi (Problems of country life). 
Earle, Alice Morse, Home Life in Colonial Days (Macmillan). 

Finley, John H., “ Paths of the Pioneers,” in Long’s American Patriotic Prose, pp. 1-4. 
Pioneer stories from any available source, especially local stories. 


CHAPTER III 


THE NEED FOR COOPERATION IN COMMUNITY LIFE 


When people have common purposes and are dependent 
upon one another in accomplishing them, there must be co- 
The need operation , which is another name for “team work.” 

for team A team of horses that does not pull together can¬ 
not haul a heavy load. A baseball team, though 
composed of good players, will seldom win games unless its 
team work is good. A few soldiers may easily disperse a large 
mob, because they have team work, while a mob usually does 
not. This principle of “ pulling together,” “ team work,” or 
“ cooperation,” is of the greatest importance in community 
life. There can be no real community life without it. 

In the early days there were “barn raisings,” when neighbors 
came together to help one of their number to “raise” his barn; 
Simple types an d the men a pioneer community con- 
of coopera- tributed their labor in building the community 
church or schoolhouse. This was a simple form 
of cooperation. It may be seen now at threshing time, when 
neighboring farmers combine to thresh the grain of each, the 
same group of men and the same threshing machine doing the 
work for all. The United States Department of Agriculture 
reports that 


In a group of 14 farmers situated in a community in one of the best farm¬ 
ing regions in the corn belt, ... it was found that 5 men out of the 14 
failed to get all their com planted by the last week in May. They had 
worked as hard and as steadily at that operation as had their neighbors, 
but they were delayed by one cause or another, such as lack of labor or 
teams, or were handling a larger acreage than their equipment would allow 

24 


THE NEED FOR COOPERATION 


25 



(Courtesy of Armour A Co.) 

In Union There Is Strength 







26 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


them to handle satisfactorily. In this same community were 3 men who 
completed all their planting operations before the 20th of May, and 5 others 
who completed their work by the 25 th of May. ... If all these men had 
considered that corn planting was a national necessity and had pooled their 
efforts, all of the corn on all the farms could have been planted within the 
most favorable time. 1 

Give other illustrations of this sort of cooperation from the farm or com¬ 
munity life of your neighborhood. 

Give illustrations of such team work among boys and girls. 

Give illustrations of the failure of enterprises in which you have been 
interested because of a lack of team work. 

Why is it an advantage for the farmers to use one threshing machine 
for all the threshing of the' neighborhood instead of each farmer having his 
own machine ? 


Organized 

cooperation 

and 

leadership 

leadership. 


As communities grow and the people become more dependent 
upon one another, and especially when it becomes hard to see 
how one thing that happens may affect others, 
as shown in Chapter II (p. 21), cooperation 
becomes more difficult, but it becomes even more 
necessary. It needs to be organized, and it needs 
The experience of fruit growers in California affords 
a good illustration of this. When they acted independently of 
one another, they often had difficulty in disposing of their 
product to advantage. Sometimes it rotted on the ground. 
As individuals they did not have the means of learning where 
the best markets were. They had to make their own terms 
separately with the railroads for transportation and, since they 
shipped in small quantities, they paid high freight rates. They 
had no adequate means of storing fruit while it was awaiting 
shipment. They were dependent upon commission merchants 
in the cities for such prices as they could get, which were often 
practically nothing at all. 

These and other difficulties that made fruit growing unprofit¬ 
able were overcome by the organization of fruit growers’ asso- 

1 The Farm Labor Problem, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Secre¬ 
tary, Circular No. 112, p. 5. 


THE NEED FOR COOPERATION 


27 



ciations, in which each grower may become a member by 
purchasing shares of stock. The members elect from their 
number a board of directors , who in turn appoint a business 
manager who gives his entire attention to the association’s 
business. The association has central offices and storage and 
packing houses. 

The manager keeps in close touch with market conditions, — 
where the demand for fruit is greatest, the kinds of fruit wanted, 


Cooperative Fruit Packing House 

« 

the best prices paid. He contracts for the sale of fruit at fair 
prices. Shipping in large quantities, he gets the advantage 
of low rates on fast freight trains with refrigerator cars. Uni¬ 
form methods of packing fruit are adopted, sometimes the 
fruit being packed at the central packing house. Information 
is distributed as to the best methods of growing fruit, the best 
varieties to grow, and so on. On the other hand, supplies and 
provisions are bought in large quantities, securing the best 
quality at the lowest prices. 












28 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


In cities there are almost innumerable organizations by 
which groups of people cooperate for one purpose or another. 
„ , . Men in the same line of business or in the same 

cooperation profession organize to promote their common 
m cities interests. There are boards of trade, chambers 
of commerce, merchants’ and manufacturers’ associations. 
Lawyers have their bar associations, physicians their medical 



Direct Cooperation in Building Farm Bureau Center Hall 
Men of the community giving their labor. 


associations. There are associations of teachers, and work¬ 
men in the various trades have their unions. Besides such 
business and professional organizations, there are clubs and 
associations of all sorts for men, for women, and even for chil¬ 
dren, some of them educational, some social or recreational, 
some philanthropic, some religious. Where there are so many 
people interested in the same thing, where it is easy for them to 
meet together, and where competent leadership is forthcoming, 
it is quite the usual thing to organize for united action. 






THE NEED FOR COOPERATION 


29 


In agricultural communities cooperation has developed more 
slowly. Farmers have been too isolated from one another to 
make organization easy, they have not fully cooperation 
realized its advantages, and they have lacked in rural 
leadership. This has been an obstacle to the commumties 
fullest development of community life. The most backward 
communities are those where there is the least cooperation. In 
such communities “the farmer works single handed, getting 
no strength from joint action or combined effort.” 

But all this is changing. On page 36 is a map showing the 
distribution of the 2,700,000 members of 10,803 agricultural 
marketing and purchasing associations in the United States. 
Each dot on the map represents 100 members. The second 
map on the same page shows the distribution of cotton marketing 
associations in the southern states, the size of the black circles 
being proportionate to the number of members in these associa¬ 
tions, and the radiating lines from each indicating the areas 
throughout which the associations secure cooperation in the 
marketing of cotton. The United States Department of Agri¬ 
culture reports, in 1927, about 63,000 agricultural cooperative 
associations of all kinds in the United States. These are of three 
main types: first, there are about 52,000 cooperative business 
organizations, such as dairy associations, grain dealers’ associa¬ 
tions, and the marketing and purchasing associations mentioned 
above; second, there are about 6,000 improvement associa¬ 
tions, such as associations for the improvement of strains of 
cattle, cow-testing associations, and so on; and third, there 
are about 5,000 associations whose work is mainly educational, 
such as the National Grange of the Patrons of Husbandry, 
the American Farm Bureau Association, the National Farmers’ 
Educational and Cooperative Union, Home Economics Associa¬ 
tions, and others. These facts give some idea of the extent 
to which the agriculturists of our nation are developing the 
means and the habit of team work, largely stimulated by 


30 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


the United States Department of Agriculture and our state 
agricultural colleges. 

Study the maps on page 36 and indicate the region or regions where you 
think cooperative grain elevators and warehouses would be most numerous; 
livestock associations; dairies and creameries; fruit growers’ associations; 
tobacco growers’ associations. 

Are there any organizations of farmers in your community similar to 
those in the list in the last paragraph above ? Make a list of them. What 
are their purposes ? What are their advantages ? 


In 1926 the United States Department of Agriculture reports 
that 45 states have Farm Bureau Federations with over 1,000,000 
The farm membership. A farm bureau is an organization 
bureau to seC ure cooperation throughout an entire county 

for the promotion of agricultural interests. The members elect 
an executive committee to manage the affairs of the bureau. In 
each of the small communities of which the county is made up 
there is a “community committee.” The chairmen of the 
several community committees constitute a county agricultural 
council. The chairmen and members of the various com- 



Play Shed and Gymnasium Built by Eighth Grade Boys 
Team work and leadership were necessary. 




THE NEED FOR COOPERATION 


31 


mittees are chosen because of their interest in special lines of 
work and their fitness to direct such work. Various other 
organizations in the county, such as the fair association, breed¬ 
ers’ associations, the Grange, the schools, and others, are repre¬ 
sented in the committees of the bureau, the purpose being to 
secure team work among them, as well as among the different 
communities of the county and among the individual farmers. 



Threshing 


The bureau may cooperate with the state and national govern¬ 
ments in employing a county agricultural agent, who is the bu¬ 
reau’s adviser, or leader. County home demonstration agents 
and county club agents may be employed also to assist in educat¬ 
ing and organizing the community. In short, the farm bureau 
represents the county working together in an organized way. 

In the Year Book of the Department of Agriculture for the 
year 1915 the story is told of Christian County, Kentucky. 1 

1 “How the Whole County Demonstrated,” 1915 Year Book, U. S. Department 
of Agriculture, pp. 225-248. 







32 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 



This county is almost wholly agricultural, but the county seat 
is a small city of 10,000 population. There had formerly been 
, more or less jealousy between the city and county, 
county as too frequently happens. But a business men s 

cooperation association was organized in the city, which 

interested itself in bettering the agricultural conditions of the 
county, because the business of the city was very dependent 
upon the neighboring agriculture. A “crop improvement asso¬ 
ciation” was formed, including farmers in its membership. A 


Cooperative Grain Elevator 

county agricultural agent was employed, and local community 
clubs were organized in different parts of the county, which held 
meetings attended by the farmers and their families, and by 
business men from the city. A good roads association was 
organized, and a “good roads day” was held on which 

business men turned out with the farmers, stores of the city were closed, 
and on one of the principal roads at least 90 per cent of the workmen were 
city men. Stone was contributed by contractors, concrete firms furnished 
men gratis to repair bridges, one company supplied outfits for tr immin g 



THE NEED FOR COOPERATION 


33 


trees, and a large amount of work was done by the county and town working 
side by side. . . . Such results could only be accomplished through unity 
of purpose and cooperation of all the people. 

Among other things accomplished in this county, 

a fair association has been formed; medical instruction has been intro¬ 
duced into the schools; a public library and hospital have been built; the 
school system of the county has cooperated in all educational work; both 
town and county merchants have offered prizes to members of the boys’ 
clubs; also for cooking in the schools, and have put women’s rest rooms in 
the stores for the use of the public. 



Cooperative Cheese Factory 


There is now an active girls’ canning club in every community in the 
county, attended by the girls and also by their mothers. There are 12 
social clubs which meet regularly; 15 parent-teachers’ and mothers’ clubs; 
and there is not a school in the county which does not have some form of 
community meeting. The schoolhouses are generally used for the meetings 
of the community clubs. In some instances farmers have given sufficient 
ground for amusement purposes at the schoolhouses. Here may be found 
the ball diamond, tennis court, and basket-ball courts. 

It is said of this county that it “stands as a demonstration 
of the effect of education and organization under the proper 
leadership. The town and the county are one. The result is 
better agriculture, better business, and better living.” 






34 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Write a brief theme on one of the following topics: 

(a) The importance of the telephone as a means of cooperation in my 
community. 

(b) Instances in my community where bad roads have caused a lack of 
cooperation. 

(c) Instances in my community where improvement of roads has led to 
better cooperation. 

In what ways do you think there is need for better cooperation in your 
community? Discuss this with your parents, and report in class the result 
of your talk with them. 



Farm Bureau Executive Committee 


Is there any organized cooperation in your community or county as a 
whole for the general improvement of the community or county ? 

Investigate the organization and work of a farm bureau. (If there is 
none in your county, write to your State Agricultural College or to the 
United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C., for informa¬ 
tion. See references at the end of this chapter.) 

A public library is an example of community cooperation for 
purposes other than that of making a living. In a pioneer com¬ 
munity there were few “books and papers and they were handed 




THE NEED FOR COOPERATION 


35 


about from house to house.’’ There may be comparatively few 
people in a community who can afford to buy a Public 
hundred books each year; but there may easily be library as 
a hundred persons who could buy one book each, an example 
and by some arrangement exchange with one another, so that 
each could in the course of a year have the use of a hundred 
books. Neighborhood clubs are often organized to subscribe 
for magazines on this plan. A public library provides an 
arrangement by which a great variety of good reading matter can 
be enjoyed by the entire community at trifling cost to each 
member. In fact, we may be able to draw books from such a 
library without any cost to ourselves; but the books which we 
thus enjoy do cost the community a large sum of money, and our 
free enjoyment of them is one of the advantages of community 
cooperation. Our part in the cooperation is in using the books 
carefully and in returning them promptly, so that as many people 
as possible may have the use of them. 

Cooperation is largely a matter of habit, and habits can be 
formed only by practice. Opportunity to practice cooperation 
is abundant if we are only on the lookout for it. It cooperation 
is found in organized sports, in the activities of the a matter of 
home, in the classroom, and in school organizations hablt 
of all kinds. It is ever present in the neighborhood and com¬ 
munity in matters pertaining to public health, public safety, 
and public welfare generally. The Department of Agriculture 
reports more than 40,000 boys’ and girls’ clubs in 1926 with 
more than half a million members engaged in agricultural 
activities of various kinds. The value of these clubs lies largely 
in the experience they give in team work in enterprises of use to 
the community and nation. During the World War the country 
was astonished at the capacity for national and international 
service displayed by the boys and girls of America when in¬ 
spired by a great purpose and when organized in the School 


3^ 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 































THE NEED FOR COOPERATION 


37 


Garden Army, in the Scouts, in the Junior Red Cross, in Thrift 
Clubs, and the like. The Junior Red Cross is one organization 
of peace time that enables boys and girls even in the most remote 
rural communities to cooperate with millions of others in every 
part of our own country and in many other countries in enterprises 
of great importance to our own nation and to the world as a whole. 



Farm Bureau Council 


“They who cannot or will not work together are always in a 
weak position when brought into competition with those who 
can and do.” 1 

If there is a public library in your community, what benefits do you get 
from it? About how many books do you draw from it in the course of a 
year? What would these books cost you if you bought them? What do 
they cost you when you draw them from the library ? 

Usually a fine is imposed for keeping a book from the library beyond a 
specified time. Show why this is proper. 

Do you have the use of a “traveling library” in your school or commu¬ 
nity? If so, where do the books come from? Show how it secures co¬ 
operation. 

Give examples of cooperation in your home, and show what is gained by it. 

In what ways do you think that cooperation could be improved in your 
home? Work out a plan for it. 

1 Carver, The Organization of a Rural Community, p. 5. 



38 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Give examples of cooperation in your school. 

Suggest plans for more and better cooperation in your school. 

In what ways have you cooperated with others during the last month 
for the good of the community in which you live ? 

Make a list in your notebook of ways in which you think you could 
cooperate with others to promote the welfare of your community, and add 
to the list from time to time as new opportunities for such cooperation occur 
to you. 

Report on the organization and work of a 4~H Clubs.” 

How does enrollment of your school in the Junior Red Cross enable you to 
cooperate in national enterprises? In international enterprises? 



Members or a Potato Club ( Oregon ) 


READINGS 

Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series A: Lesson i, Some fundamental aspects of social organization. 

Lesson 3, The cooperation of specialists in modern society. 

Lesson 7, Organization. 

Lesson 8, The rise of machine industry. 

Series B : Lesson 4, Feeding a city. 

Lesson 25, Concentration of production in the meat-packing industry. 
Lesson 26, Concentration in the marketing of citrus fruits. 

The publications of the United States Department of Agriculture have a wide 




THE NEED FOR COOPERATION 


39 


range of material relating to practical cooperation. The following selected titles 
are illustrative: 

County Agricultural Agent Work, Miscellaneous Circular No. 59 
Home Demonstration Work, Department Circular No. 399 
Boys’ and Girls’ 4-H Club Work, Miscellaneous Circular No. 77 
Boys’ and Girls’ 4-H Club Work, Miscellaneous Circular No. 85 
Methods and Results of Cooperative Extension Work, Department Circular No. 
347 - 

Organization of rural interests, Year Book 1913, 239-258. 

Organization of a rural community, Year Book 1914, 89-138. 

Farmers’ Cooperative Business Organizations, Department Bulletin 1302. 
Organization of County for Extension Work, Farm-Bureau Plan, Department 
Circular No. 30. 

See note on reference material in Introduction with regard to method of applying 
for this material. The assistance of the local county agent, the state agricultural 
college, or of the congressman, may be enlisted if necessary. 

Publications of the State Agricultural College and Experiment Station of your own 
state, relating to cooperation. 

The Junior Red Cross and Its Program, A. R. C. 618, American National Red Cross, 
Washington, D.C. 

Tufts, James H., The Real Business of Living , chaps, ii, iii, viii, xv, xvi. 


CHAPTER IV 


WHY WE HAVE GOVERNMENT 


In education 


We are now in a better position to understand 
Government . , , 

a means why we have government. It is a means by 

to secure which to secure cooperation, or team work. 

When a schoolhouse is built to-day, it is not 
done by combined manual labor, as in the pioneer community 
(p. 24). As in all building, there is cooperation 
of a highly organized kind in the production and 
assembling of the materials and in the construction of the 
building by workmen of different kinds. But more than this, 
since the schoolhouse is a public building , the community 
cooperates in paying for it. This is done by means of taxes. 
The people pay taxes not only for the building, but also to meet 
the cost of operating the school, paying the teachers, buying 
equipment, and heating the building. 

The community must know how much money is needed for 
the school, the taxes must be fairly apportioned and collected, 
and the school must be properly managed to perform the com¬ 
munity’s work of education. In small communities the people 
may meet together to vote the taxes and to decide on other 
matters relating to education, as in New England towns. But 
there must be leadership, and there must be an organization to 
perform the work which the community wants done. Every 
community therefore has its board of education, or school 
committee, a superintendent, and other officials. Such organ¬ 
ization corresponds to the board of directors and business 
manager of the fruit growers’ association (p. 27), only it 
represents the entire community and attends to the com- 

40 



WHY WE HAVE GOVERNMENT 41 

munity’s business of education. It is part of the community’s 
governing machinery. 

Ascertain from your father how much school tax he pays each year. 
Who determines the amount of this tax? To whom does he pay it? 

Could you employ a teacher at home for the amount your father pays as 
school tax? If you had a teacher at home, could you get as good an educa¬ 
tion as you can now get at school? Explain your answer. 

In what ways do you cooperate with the community to make the school 
a success? 


A Rural Traveling Library 

If there is a public library in your community, is it supported by taxa¬ 
tion? Who manages the public library for the community? 

When a building takes fire in the country the neighbors 
gather as quickly as possible to fight the flames by such means 
as may be at hand, but seldom very effectively, in fire 
In a small city or town, there may be a volunteer protection 
fire company composed of men who, when a fire breaks out, 
leave their usual occupations to save the property. In large 




42 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


cities, fully equipped and costly fire departments are main¬ 
tained, with paid firemen who are always on duty. The police 
usually keep the crowd away from the burning building, not 
only for their own safety, but because they would hinder rather 
than help the trained and organized firemen. In each case 
there is cooperation for fire protection; the greater the common 
danger, the more perfect the organization and the more com¬ 
plete the control by government. 

It was once the usual practice, as it still is in some localities, 
for each farmer to give a certain number of days each year to 
inroad work on the roads. Now, in the most progres- 

buildmg sive communities, the roads are better and more 
uniformly built and kept in better repair because they are 
placed by the community in charge of skilled roadmakers paid 
for by taxation. But whether the farmer contributes money 
or labor, or both, cooperation is planned and directed by the 
government. (See Chapter XVII.) 

In Benjamin Franklin’s time, each householder in Philadel¬ 
phia swept the pavement in front of his home if he wanted it 
In health kept clean. Franklin, who was a splendid example 

protection 0 f good citizenship in that he was always looking 

for opportunities to improve his community, tells what hap¬ 
pened : 

One day I found a poor industrious man, who was willing to undertake 
keeping the pavement clean by sweeping it twice a week, carrying off the 
dirt from before all the neighbors’ doors, for the sum of sixpence per month 
to be paid by each house. I then wrote and printed a paper setting forth 
the advantages to the neighborhood that might be obtained by this small 
expense. ... I sent one of these papers to each house, and in a day or 
two went around to see who would subscribe an agreement to pay these 
sixpences; it was unanimously signed, and for a time well executed. This 
raised a general desire to have all the streets paved, and made the people 
more willing to submit to a tax for that purpose. 

This was community cooperation under simple conditions. 
A hundred years later, the one and a half million people living 


WHY WE HAVE GOVERNMENT 


43 


in Philadelphia were just as truly cooperating to keep their city 
clean by means of more than 1200 miles of sewers for which they 



Courtesy American Magazine of Art. 
Benjamin Franklin 

“ A Splendid Example of Good Citizenship ” 

Statue by Paul Bartlett in front of Library, Waterbury, Conn. 


had paid nearly 35 millions of dollars, and by means of a depart¬ 
ment of highways and street-cleaning which employed a con¬ 
tractor to clean the streets and to remove all ashes and garbage 









44 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


at an annual cost of more than a million and a half dollars. 
This is all under the direction of the city government. 

What is true of our local boards of education, road super¬ 
visors, fire and street-cleaning departments, and other depart- 
in state ments of our local governments, is also true of 

and national state and national governments. We shall not 

stop for illustrations of this now, because they 
will be numerous in later chapters. (See, for example, Chapter 
XII.) 

Is there a government in your home? If so, prove whether or not it is 
a means by which the members of the family cooperate. 

Describe the government of your school and show how it secures co¬ 
operation. 

If you can get a copy of Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography, find in it 
further instances in which he improved the cooperation of his community, 
as for fire protection and street lighting. 

Show how street lights in town represent community cooperation. For 
what purpose is this form of cooperation? 

Give additional illustrations to prove that government in your community 
is a means of cooperation. 

In what ways can you cooperate with the school board or trustees of your 
community, and thus with the community itself, for better schools? 

A number of boys whose lives were spent mostly in the city 
streets were once asked what the word “government” sug- 

„ gested to them. Some of them at once answered, 

Government 

to help “The policeman!” And when they were asked 

and not to “Why?” they replied, “He arrests people,” “He 
makes us keep off the grass in the parks,” “He 
drives us off when we play ball in vacant lots.” These answers 
represent a common idea about government, that it is some¬ 
thing over us to restrict our freedom. Government does 
restrict the freedom of individuals at times; but one of the best 
illustrations of its real purpose is the traffic policeman in cities. 
He stands at the crossing of busy streets, regulating the move¬ 
ment of people and vehicles in such a way as to insure the safety 


WHY WE HAVE GOVERNMENT 45 

of all and to keep the intersecting streams of traffic moving 
smoothly and with as little interruption as possible. Now and 
then he leaves his post to help a child or an aged person or a 
cripple across the street; or answers the inquiries of a stranger. 
If now and then he arrests a driver, it is because the latter 

disregards the rights or 
welfare of others. 

In small or thinly 
settled communities 
there may Lawsas 
be no traf- signals of 
fic police- co5peration 
man; but there may 
be signs at the inter¬ 
section of highways to 
guide travelers, or 
warnings such as 
“ Dangerous Curve ! ” 
or “ School: Drive 

Slowly!” Such signs 
are usually posted by 
state or local author¬ 
ities in accordance with 
law. And even where 
there are no signs, the 
laws themselves are 
supposed to regulate traffic. Some one has compared the laws 
in our country to the signals given to a football team by the 
quarterback. These signals are agreed upon in advance by the 
team, and tell each player not only what he himself, but also 
what every other player, is to do, and thus team work is se¬ 
cured. And so our laws are said to be “signals of cooperation,” 
just as much as the sign “Drive Slowly,” or as when the traffic 
policeman holds up his hand or blows his whistle. 



© Underwood and Underwood. 

“The Signal for Cooperation” in a 
City Street 
(Traffic Policeman.) 



46 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Laws, however, are more than “signals” of cooperation; 
they are also rules by which cooperation is secured — “rules 
Laws as S ame -” Wherever people are dependent 

rules of upon one another and work together there must 
the game ru i es 0 f con( iuct. One kind of rules consists 

of what we call “etiquette” or “good manners.” We have 
doubtless all observed how much better an athletic contest 
moves along, or even the ordinary sports of the playground, 



The Roadside Sign 


where good manners prevail. “Good manners” include more 
than the “party manners” that we put on and take off on 
special occasions, like “party clothes.” They consist of the 
accepted rules of behavior toward those with whom we asso¬ 
ciate. In the home, in school, in business, in public places, 
there are “good manners” that are recognized by custom and 
that make the wheels move smoothly and without jar. We do 
not need a law or a policeman to require a man to give way 








WHY WE HAVE GOVERNMENT 


47 


to a woman, or even to another man, in passing through a 
doorway; good manners provide for this. Even on the public 
street much confusion is avoided by an observance of good 
manners, or custom. Thoughtful people instinctively turn to 
the right in passing others (in England and Canada the custom 
is to turn to the left) without thinking whether there is a law 
on the subject or not. 

Now most of our laws that regulate the conduct of indi¬ 
viduals are simply rules that experience has proved to be of 
the greatest advantage to the greatest number, Law gives 
and that are necessary because some people have freedom 
not “good manners.” Most people observe them, not because 
they are laws, but because they are reasonable and helpful in 
avoiding friction and in securing cooperation. If they are 
good laws, it is only the “ill-mannered” who are really con¬ 
scious of their existence. Just laws restrict the freedom only 
of the “ill-mannered,” while they give freedom to those who 
have “good manners.” 

What street or highway signs are there in your community? Who 
placed them? Are they faithfully observed? If not, why? 

What signals are there in your school? Discuss their usefulness. 

What are some of the “rules” of your school? Are they good rules? 
Why? Are they an advantage or a disadvantage to yourself? If they did 
not exist, would your own conduct be different? Why? 

What are some of the rules of good manners that are supposed to control 
conduct in your school? in your home? in the street? Discuss their 
reasonableness. Do they enlarge or restrict freedom? 

Do the rules of football, or other games, increase or decrease the freedom 
of play? 

What are some of the laws that control conduct in your community? 
Would most people observe the laws you mention even if they were not 
written laws, and if there were no penalty for failing to observe them? 
Why? 

The following story illustrates the difference between law 
and custom, or “manners,” and how the former may develop 


48 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


out of the latter. 1 There was once a boys’ school located in an 
8 oo-acre tract of land, in the fields and woods of which the 
The origin boys, when free from their studies, gathered nuts, 
of law trapped small animals, and otherwise lived much 

like primitive hunters. 

Just after midnight some morning early in October, when the first frosts 
of the season loosened the grasp of the nuts upon the limbs, parties of two 
or three boys might be seen rushing at full speed over the wet fields. When 
the swiftest party reached a walnut tree, one of the number climbed up 
rapidly, shook off half a bushel of nuts and scrambled down again. Then 
off the boys went to the next tree, where the process was repeated unless 
the tree was occupied by other boys doing likewise. Nut hunters coming 
to the tree after the first party had been there, and wishing to shake the 
tree some more, were required by custom to pile up all the nuts that lay 
under the tree. Until this was done, the unwritten law did not permit 
their shaking any more nuts on the ground. 

So far this was a custom accepted by the boys because of its 
reasonableness. But after a while, some members of this boy 
community thought to get ahead of the other members. One 
night before frost came they secretly went to the woods and 
took possession of most of the nut trees by shaking them ac¬ 
cording to custom. When this was discovered, some of the 
leaders of the community called a meeting of all the boys. After 
discussing the matter thoroughly, they provided against a 
repetition of the trick by making a rule (passing a law) that 
thereafter the harvesting of nuts should not begin before a fixed 
date in October. 

These boys acted very much as men have often acted under 
simple conditions of community life. The New England “ town 
meeting,” for example, is precisely the same thing as the boys’ 
meeting. 

1 “Rudimentary Society among Boys,” by John Johnson, in Johns Hopkins 
University Studies in Historical and Political Science, vol. ii (1884). The story as 
here given is reproduced from Lessons in Community and National Life, Series C, p. 
145, U. S. Bureau of Education (Lesson C-18, “Cooperation through Law,” by 
Arthur W. Dunn). 


WHY WE HAVE GOVERNMENT 


49 


We shall study the organization and methods of lawmaking 
in later chapters. At present we are merely noting why we 
have laws, and the fact that they are supposed 
to be made, directly or indirectly, by the people eiement°iri d 
themselves. And right here we see the second democracy: 
thing necessary to make a democracy. On page people 
9 we saw that in a democracy all people have 
certain equal and “unalienable” rights, and that that com¬ 
munity is most democratic that affords its members most nearly 
equal opportunity to enjoy these rights. Now we see further 
that in a democracy the people make their own laws. More¬ 
over, the laws of a democracy control, not only the conduct of 
the people, but also the government itself. The government of 
a democracy may do only those things, and use only those 
methods, for which the people give the authority. It is only 
when government exercises power without control by the people 
that it becomes autocratic. 

The purpose of our government is clearly stated in two 
historic documents. One of these is the Declaration of Inde¬ 
pendence, which has already been quoted in Chap- Two historic 
ter I. The same quotation is given here with an documents 
additional sentence in italics: 

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, 
that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, 
that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. That, to 
secure these rights , governments are instituted among men , deriving their just 
powers from the consent of the governed. . . . 

The second great document is the Constitution of the United 
States, the preamble to which reads: 

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect 
union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the common 
defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to 
ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution 
for the United States of America. 


50 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 



Courtesy American Magazine of Art. 

Thomas Jefferson 

Author of the Declaration of Independence. 

Statue at the University of Virginia. By Karl Bitter. 

It is not to be supposed that our government and our laws 
Democracy a are P er f ect - They cannot be perfect as long as 
goal still to they are made and operated by imperfect people, 
be reached - g pQggjt^ f or example, that the boys of the city 

(p. 44) had a just complaint against the government for 














WHY WE HAVE GOVERNMENT 


51 


not permitting them to play ball in vacant lots, unless 
the community at the same time provided them with another 
suitable place for the game — for every community should pro¬ 
tect the right of its boys and girls to play. We are far from 
having attained complete democracy. It is a goal toward 
which men are struggling, and have been struggling for cen¬ 
turies — since long before our Revolutionary War, and in other 
countries as well as in our own. The great world war which 
began in 1914, and which the United States entered in 1917, 
was a war to establish more firmly in the world the principles 
of democratic government. Whether these principles shall be 
carried out in practice, and whether our governments —• local, 
state, and national — shall fulfill the purposes so clearly stated 
in the preamble to the Constitution, depends upon the extent 
to which each citizen understands these purposes, and cooper¬ 
ates with his fellow-citizens and with his governments in support 
of them. 

It is said that in one of the training camps during the war 
an officer addressed a squad of new recruits as The “ right 
follows: idea of ” 

Boys, I want you to get the right idea of the salute. I do not want you 
to think that you are being compelled to salute me as an individual. No! 
When you salute me, you are simply rendering respect to the power I repre¬ 
sent; and the power I represent is you. Now let me explain. You elect 
the President of the United States, and the President of the United States 
grants me a commission to represent his authority in this army. His only 
authority is the authority that you vest in him when you elect him President. 
Now, when you salute an officer, you salute not the man, but the representa¬ 
tive of your own authority. The salute is going to be rigidly enforced in 
this army, and I want you boys to get the right idea of it. I want you to 
know what you salute and why. 

It is very important that we should “get the right idea” of 
what our government is. It is very much the idea that the 
officer gave his soldiers about the salute. It is the idea con¬ 
tained in this chapter: that government is our own organiza- 


52 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


tion for team work in community life. All through this book 
we shall be engaged in discovering how far this is true. 

Do you know of instances in which the national government has helped 
to secure cooperation among the farmers of your locality? 

Discuss the parcel post as a means of cooperation. 

During the war with Germany the United States government assumed 
control of all the railroads of the country. Show how this was to secure 
better cooperation. 

I? the government of your school democratic ? Explain your answer. 
Do you think it should be made more democratic? Why? 

Compare the purposes stated in the preamble to the Constitution with 
the common purposes stated on page 6 of Chapter I. 

Show how the pupil who does as he pleases in school may interfere with 
the rights and liberties of other pupils. Is it right that his liberty should 
then be restricted? Why? Is liberty the right to do as one pleases? 
If not, what is it? 

Read together in class the preamble to the Constitution and carefully 
discuss the meaning of each phrase. 


READINGS 

Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series B : Lesson 17, The development of a system of laws. 

Series C: Lesson 17, Custom as a basis for law. 

Lesson 18, Cooperation through law. 

In Long’s American Patriotic Prose: 

Lincoln, “Mob Law,” pp. 175-177. 

Lincoln, “Back to the Declaration,” pp. 179-181. 

McKinley, “Liberty is Responsibility, Not License,” pp. 254-255. 

The Declaration of Independence, pp. 67-71. 

Beard, Chas. A., American Citizenship, chap, i (“The Nature of Modem Govern¬ 
ment”). 

Franklin, Benjamin, Autobiography. 


CHAPTER V 


WHAT IS CITIZENSHIP? 

Before we go further, let us get a definite idea What mem _ 
of what it means to be a citizen. bership 

We have frequently referred to the fact that means 
we are “members” of various communities. Our bodies have 
members, such as arms and hands. The tongue 
has been called an “unruly” member. “It is a Inthebody 
little member and boasteth great things.” 1 

There are two important facts about members of the body. 
One is that they get their life from the body. If the hand is cut 
off, it quickly ceases to be a hand because it is severed from the 
source of life. If the body is seriously ill, its members are 
unable to perform their proper work. 

The second important fact is that the body is dependent upon 
its members for its life. If the hand is cut off, or an eye put 
out, the body does not necessarily die, but it is seriously handi¬ 
capped. If a member is paralyzed or diseased it may be a 
positive hindrance to the body, and the disease may spread to 
other members. The body may suffer merely because its 
members are poorly trained. 

That is what it means to be a member of the body; and 
membership in a family, or a school, or a club, or a community, 
is just the same. We have already seen, and we i n the 
shall see more fully as we go on with our study, community 
how completely we are dependent upon our communities for 
food, for the protection of life, for education, and for all else 
that makes up our life. The community that does not provide 


1 James iii: 5. 
53 


54 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


for its members in these things is like a sick body. On the other 
hand, as members of a community we are always contributing 
something to its life — either to its advantage or disadvantage. 
Of course, each of us is only one of a great many members in 
a large community, and we may seem to be very unimportant. 
But each performs his part, whether it be great or small, and 
whether he does it well or poorly. 



“ J pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States and to the Republic for which it 
stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.” 


Now we often speak of members of a community as citizens 
of that community. Citizenship means practically the same 
Citizenship thing as membership in the community. As a 
means good community is one that provides well for its 

membership me mbers, so the good citizen is the member who 
does well his part in the life of the community. A bad citizen 
is the member who hinders the progress of the community 
when he might be helping. A citizen has certain rights and 









WHAT IS CITIZENSHIP? 


55 


certain duties. His rights are what the community owes him; 
his duties are what he owes the community. 

There are many members of communities who are like the 
diseased or paralyzed hand, or like the hand that is untrained. 
A member of an athletic team who does not “ train ” Trained and 
will probably be dropped from the team — he fails untrained 
to become an athlete. A member of a community, citizens 
or a citizen, who does not “ train ” still remains a member, but 





The Final Step in Naturalization in Court 
T aking the Oath of Allegiance. 

an inefficient one. He is a handicap to his community and 
interferes with community team work. The part that a member 
plays in community life may be more important than he realizes. 
Even in small things, “the falling short of one may mean 
disaster to many.” Each member of a community, like each 
member of a body, must be not only in a healthy condition but 
also well trained. 











56 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Let us not make the mistake of thinking that we are not yet 
citizens because we are young. The Constitution of the United 
Who are States says that “ all persons born or naturalized in 
citizens the United States and subject to the jurisdiction 
thereof’’ (that is, subject to its laws) “are citizens of the United 
States and of the state wherein they reside.” Even persons born 


Note the Service Flag of this class. 

in foreign countries and who have not yet been naturalized 1 
enjoy almost all the rights of native-born Americans, and there¬ 
fore have much of the responsibility of citizenship. Until they 
are naturalized they are still considered as members of the 
country from which they came, and therefore as owing certain 
duties to that country which would be inconsistent with their 

1 “Naturalization” is the legal process by which persons of foreign birth renounce 
their allegiance to the land of their birth and pledge their allegiance to our govern¬ 
ment. 







WHAT IS CITIZENSHIP? 


57 


duties as members of our nation. Therefore they are denied 
certain political rights, such as voting and holding office . 1 These 
same political rights are denied to native-born citizens until 
they have reached maturity. But we must not confuse this 
right to vote with citizenship. 

Explain how the idea of membership as described in the text applies to 
your membership in the family; to membership in a club; in a church; 
in a farmers’ cooperative organization. 

Can you be a member of your class or school without doing it either good 
or harm? Explain your answer. 

Read Romans xii: 4-8 and James iii: 5-8. 

Show how an injury or a benefit to one pupil in the school may be an injury 
or a benefit to the entire school. Give illustrations to prove this. 

Show how a failure to save food, to buy savings stamps, or to perform 
other service that one is able to perform, weakened our nation and other 
nations who were her allies during the war with Germany. 

Make a list of things you have done during the week for the benefit of 
your school; for the welfare of your neighborhood, town, or school district. 
Do you do as much for your family, school, or community as they do for 
you? 

Turn to Amendment XIV of the Constitution of the United States 
(see Appendix), and read the entire first section containing the definition 
of a citizen. Discuss the meaning of the section. 

At what age does the native-born citizen acquire the right to vote ? Why 
is he not allowed to vote before that time ? 

What native-born citizens of the United States do not have the right to 
vote even after they are of voting age? 

READINGS 

In Long’s American Patriotic Prose: 

Doane, “The Men to Make a State,” pp. 236-238. 

Lane, “Makers of the Flag,” pp. 314-316. 

Steiner, “On Becoming an American Citizen,” pp. 317-320. 

Wilson, “To Newly-Made Citizens,” pp. 322-326. 

1 In a few states even unnaturalized persons are allowed to vote after they have 
declared their intention of becoming citizens. 


CHAPTER VI 


WHAT IS OUR COMMUNITY? 

In the preceding chapters we have often spoken of “our 
Elements that community.” As a matter of fact each of us is a 
make a member of a number of communities. It is time 

community to con sider just what they are. 

Every community of course consists of a group of people 
who occupy a more or less definite locality. Much depends, in 
community life, upon the character of both the people and 
the locality they occupy. But the essential thing about a 
community is that the people who comprise it are working 
together (cooperating) under an organization (government) for 
the common good (common purposes). 

A neighborhood of farmers with their families may constitute 
a community. In this case the area occupied may be exten- 
Large and s ^ ve w ^ile the people are few in number. Or the 
small community may be a city with a population very 

communities i ar g e j n proportion to the area it occupies. There 
are villages, towns, and small cities of varying sizes both as to 
population and area. Each state in our Union is a community 
and so is the nation itself because each is composed of a group 
of people (very large in these cases), occupying a definite terri¬ 
tory (also large), and having a government through which the 
people are working for common ends. There is a world com¬ 
munity, but it is, as yet, very imperfect. The nations and 
peoples that comprise it have been slow to recognize their 
common purposes and have so far failed to develop adequate 
means of cooperation. (See Chapter VIII. ) 

58 


WHAT IS OUR COMMUNITY? 


59 


Is your class a community? (Apply the definition given above.) What 
common interests has it ? Has it any government or laws ? Is your school 
a community? Apply the same tests as above. 

Is your home a community? What are some of its common interests? 
Are there laws in your family ? 

What are some of the things in which your family and your nearest 
neighbors have a common interest because of living close together? Do 
your family and your neighbors work together to provide for these interests ? 

What are some of the things in which all the people of your city or village 
(or the one nearest to you) have a common interest, and which the city, or 
village, government helps to provide for? 


Interdepend¬ 
ence of rural 
and city 
communities 


A community of farmers has interests of its own, largely 
centering around farming activities, or the social life of the 
local neighborhood. A few miles away is a village 
or city whose people also have their own peculiar 
interests, such as the lighting of the streets at 
night, or the building of a new high school, or the 
election of a mayor. Yet there are interests common to both 
the farming community and the city community. The city 
is dependent upon the country for its food supply, and the 
farmers are dependent upon the city for their market. Prob¬ 
ably some of the farmers send their children to the city schools. 
Thus city and rural communities are bound together into a 
larger community with interests common to both. 


In the early days of western settlement a community was founded in 
Illinois. It was an agricultural community, but in the midst of it a village 
grew, which in the course of time became a small city. One of the first 
settlers was a young farmer with a mechanical turn of mind. He began 
experimenting to improve the methods of planting grain. The result 
was the invention of a corn planter, the manufacture of which became one 
of the chief industries of the growing city, employing hundreds of men and 
sending machines to all parts of the world. Another young farmer invented 
a better plow than those which had been in use, the manufacture of which 
became another of the city’s industries. In those pioneer days each family 
usually made its own brooms, but one young man in this community earned 
his way through the local college by making brooms from corn raised on the 
college farm. The college cornfield disappeared in the course of time, but 


6 o 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


on one part of it there grew up a broom factory employing a large number 
of workmen. These city industries were thus literally “children of the soil, ” 
and the city’s prosperity depended upon the agriculture of the surrounding 
region. On the other hand, the city provided the farmers with improved 
plows and com planters, furnished them an immediate market for their 
products, supplied them with goods through its shops and stores, and gave 
education to hundreds of farmers’ children in its schools and college. 


city team 
work 


Sometimes jealousies and antagonisms arise between small 
neighboring communities, and especially between rural and 
city communities. This interferes with the prog- 
rural and ress of both communities, and of the larger com¬ 
munity of which each is a part. It may be 
proposed to build a township high school. It 
is natural that the several communities that comprise the 
township should each want it. But the interest of the entire 
township should be considered in determining the location 
of the school, and not merely the advantage of one local dis¬ 
trict as against others. It sometimes happens that the people 
of a city are exempted from taxation for county purposes 
outside of the city, although the benefits would be almost 
if not quite as great for the city as for the country. (See 
p. 248 for an illustration of this.) This sort of thing serves 
to set off city and country against each other instead of 
binding them together to their mutual advantage. The 
case of Christian County, Kentucky, described in Chapter 
III, p. 32, is an excellent illustration of team work between 
city and country in the interest of the entire county, and of 
the results achieved by it. 

In this chapter there are three maps of Dane County, 
Wisconsin, which show how small communities, both rural 
Small com anc ^ urban, are united into a large community, the 
munities county. Map 1 shows the school districts and 
the townships which comprise the county. The 
city of Madison occupies the center, and small 
towns and villages are scattered here and there. The country 


unite in 
large ones 


WHAT IS OUR COMMUNITY? 


61 


school is the chief center of interest in each school district. 
Here and there through the county are high schools. Each of 
these is a center of a larger irregular area, including a number of 
school districts and parts of several townships as shown in 
map 2. Map 3 shows trade areas. Trade and education 



Map 1 — The Country School Districts of Dane County, Wisconsin 


are two of the chief interests that bind people into communi¬ 
ties. But where these interests exist, there are likely to be 
other interests; the high school is likely to be a meeting place 
for social and recreational purposes. 

The area and boundaries of a “fanning” or “rural neighbor¬ 
hood” community are usually rather indefinite and changeable, 
depending upon surface features and upon transportation 
conditions, or the length of the “day’s haul.” With improved 
roads and better means of transportation larger areas and more 









































































62 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


people are included. A “neighborhood” or “trade area” with 
automobiles is much larger than one where horses or ox carts 
are used exclusively. The consolidated school with transpor¬ 
tation provided for pupils (see pp. 294-296) expands the rural 
neighborhood community. 



Map 2 — Rural Areas of High School Influence 


Each small circle represents one rural pupil attending high school and is located at 
the farmstead. The arrow points toward the high school attended. Each irregular 
curve incloses nearly all the rural pupils attending the same high school. The black 
circles represent rural pupils attending high schools in Madison. The partial ir¬ 
regular curves group together pupils attending a near-by high school outside the 
county. Note the parts of the county without high school advantages. 


Each of the small dots on map 3 represents a farm home. 
If we select one of these dots and imagine ourselves members 
of the family that lives there, we shall see that we are mem¬ 
bers of a certain school district, of a certain township, of a 
community that has grown up around a trade center and a high 

































WHAT IS OUR COMMUNITY? 63 


school, and of course of the county as a whole, 
in what school district we live, we have an interest 
in some matters in common with the people of all 
other school districts in the county. For example, 
there is a state university at Madison, and con¬ 
nected with it is a training school for teachers. 


No matter 

Common 
interests of 
the larger 
community 

The work 



done here influences the teaching in all the schools of the county, 
and indeed of the whole state. There is also an agricultural 
college at the state university which serves the farmers through¬ 
out the entire county and state. If we look closely at map 3, 
we shall see how highways and railroads center at Madison, 
which is the county seat of Dane County and the capital of the 
state of Wisconsin. 

Just as the many small communities that make up a county 



















































































































64 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


are dependent upon one another, requiring organized coopera¬ 
tion for the county welfare, so all the counties of a state, and 
all the people who live in all the counties, are interdependent in 
many ways. The people of the city of Madison, for example, 
depend for their food supply upon the farmers not only of 
Dane County but of the entire state. The university at 
Madison serves not Dane County alone, but the people of all 
the counties of the state. The public schools of the state 
should be equally good in all counties and managed by a uni¬ 
form plan. Roads and other means of transportation are a 
matter of concern to the entire state. And so the state is a 
community, organized with a government to secure cooperation 
among all the people and all the smaller communities that 
compose it. In fact, a large part of the business of the govern¬ 
ments of the local communities, such as city and county and 
township, is to administer the laws of the central state 
government. 

In a similar manner, the forty-eight states of the Union, with 
all the counties and smaller communities of which they consist, 
comprise our great national community, of which we are all 
members. 

When we speak of “our community” we are likely to think 
at once of the small community immediately around us — our 
Citizenship neighborhood, village, or city. Our citizenship 
in the larger in these local communities is extremely important, 
communities an( j w yj j eman( j n0 sm all p ar t 0 f our attention. 

But it is equally important to be fully alive to our citizenship 
in the larger communities. This is true wherever we live; 
but there is a sense in which our national community is pecu¬ 
liarly important to those of us who live in rural communities. 
The wants of people in cities are, as a rule, looked after more 
completely by their local governments than is the case in rural 
communities. 

The people of rural communities, and especially farmers 


WHAT IS OUR COMMUNITY? 


6 $ 


themselves, are directly served by the national government in 
a great variety of ways. In the next chapter we shall consider 
our nation as a community. 

Show how the different classes of your school are bound together by 
interests common to the entire school. Compare this union of classes with 
the union of states into a nation. What constitutes the government of your 
school ? 

Mention some things in which all the people of your county have a special 
interest. Are these things of equal interest to farmers and town people? 

Do the farmers and town people of your county work well together, or 
are there conflicts between them? If there are conflicts, what are the 
causes ? 

Point out some ways in which the prosperity and welfare of the farmers 
of your locality depend upon a neighboring city or town. Also some 
ways in which the city or town depend upon the neighboring farmers. 

If there is organized cooperation in your county, similar to that described 
on page 32, has it been brought about or encouraged by government, or 
solely by voluntary effort on the part of citizens? If the government had 
anything to do with it, was it the county government, state government, 
or national government? 

Has farm land increased or decreased in value in your locality since your 
father was a boy? Can you show a relation between this change in value 
of farm land and the growth of near-by towns or cities ? 

What industries in your town (or a neighboring town) are dependent 
upon farming for their raw materials ? for the sale of their product ? 

What is the cotton gin? the spinning jenny? Show how these invert 
tions were a beenfit to agriculture. How did they promote the growth of 
cities? 

Make a map of your school district. Do the people of this district 
cooperate in matters other than those pertaining to the school? 

On a map of your county show approximately the “trade area” served 
by the “trade center” nearest you. For what other purposes besides trade 
do the farmers of this trade area come to the trade center ? 

On a map of your county show the area from which pupils come to the 
high school nearest you. 

On a map of your state show the principal “railroad centers.” Show how 
these are the centers of larger trade areas corresponding to the small trade 
areas of your county. Show how the farmers and the residents of these 
railroad centers have common interests. 


66 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


READINGS 

Dunn, Arthur W., The Community and the Citizen, chaps, i-iii. 

Galpin, C. J., “The Social Anatomy of an Agricultural Community,” Research 
Bulletin 34, Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Wisconsin, Madi¬ 
son, Wis. 

Gillette, John M., Constructive Rural Sociology (Sturgis & Walton Co., New York), 
chap, iv (“Types of Communities”). 

Sanderson, E. Dwight, The Farmer and His Community (Harcourt, Brace and Co., 
1922). 

Small and Vincent, An Introduction to the Study of Society (American Book Co.), 
Book II, chaps, i-iv. 


CHAPTER VII 
OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY 


Because of its huge size and complexity, it is not always easy 
to think of our nation as “our community” in the sense that 
we think of our neighborhood or town or city as such. But our 
national life, no less than our life in smaller communities, is 
based on the same common purposes, and is characterized by 
the same interdependence and the same necessity for team work 
that characterize our town or city, or our school and home life. 
Only in the light of these facts can we understand our national 
citizenship and our national government. 

Our national community is, of course, imperfect. No com¬ 
munity is perfect in all respects. The larger the number of 
people in a community, the greater the likelihood Imperfections 
of misunderstanding and of apparently conflicting 0 f our 
interests. Effective cooperation on the part of natl o nal 

^ community 

120,000,000 people is difficult to achieve. In the 
hands of imperfect people, the best of governments can be only 
an imperfect means of cooperation. Large numbers of our “ self- 
governing” people take little or no effective part in governing, 
and there are many who do not even have full enjoyment of 
“life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” 

The patriotic citizen is not one who is blind to the imper¬ 
fections of his community, but one who, recognizing the imper¬ 
fections, seeks to cooperate to the extent of his ability to re¬ 
move them. 

“The problem of government is after all the problem of human growth. . . 
The one constant and inconstant quantity with which man must deal is 
man—changing, inert, impulsive, limited, sympathetic, selfish, aspiring man. 

6 7 


68 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


His institutions, whether social or political, must come out of his wants and 
out of his capacities. . . No system of government has made all men 
wise . . Franklin K. Lane. 



A View of Our National Capital 


Is it possible for a community to attain 100 per cent perfection? Why? 

Can you think of any respects in which your town or city is perfect? (For 
example, in its schools, in its streets, in its provision for health protection, 
in its architecture, and so on.) 

In respects in which your community is not perfect, can you have any 
effective part in removing the imperfections? 

What people in your community take no direct part in government? 
Why? 

May people who cannot vote have any influence upon government? 
Explain. 

Give examples of helpful and harmful criticism of your community or 
of its government. 



OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY 


69 


Imperfections in our community life and organization appear 
more glaringly in times of great emergency. It is when a great 
fire destroys property and perhaps life that a com¬ 
munity is aroused to defective building laws, in- emphadzed^ 
adequate water supply, poorly equipped fire de- in time of 
partment, or carelessness in the disposal of in- emergency 
flammable materials. So, when our country was plunged into 
the World War in 1917, all over the nation went up the cry that 



Immigrants from Other Lands 
Landing at Ellis Island, New York Harbor 


we were “unprepared,” and stupendous effort was made to put 
ourselves in a state of preparedness to act together as a national 
community in the face of the great emergency. 

The fact that our nation contained in its population large 
numbers of people from practically every country of Europe 
caused no little anxiety when we entered the Euro- Welding 
pean war. Our population embraced a hundred of diverse 
different races and nationalities. Of these ten elements 
million were negroes and three hundred and thirty-six thousand 














7 ° 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Indians. Thirty-three million were of foreign parentage, and 
of these thirteen million were foreign-born. Five million 
of the population were reported as not being able to speak 
English, and five and one-half million above the age of ten 
years, including native and foreign-born, as unable to read 
or write in any language. Fifteen hundred newspapers in the 
United States were printed in foreign languages. New York 
City had a larger Hebrew population than any other city in the 
world, contained more Italians than Rome, and its German 
population was the fourth largest among the cities of the world. 
It was said that Pittsburgh had more Serbs than the capital of 
Serbia, and that there were more Greeks subject to draft in the 
American army than there were in the entire army of Greece. 

Would all these various racial and linguistic groups be loyal 
to our nation, or would they divide it against itself? Events 

proved that, while here and there were some who 

Loyalty had never really become ‘ ‘ members’ ’ of our national 

of diverse . . . . . . . 

elements community and were obstacles to completely united 

action, the great majority of this mixed population, 
regardless of color or place of birth, was American in spirit and 
loyal to our flag and to the ideas which it represents. 

Another danger keenly felt in time of war was the lack of 

complete harmony between wage earners and their employers. 

„ . . Strikes occurred, or were threatened, in factories, 

safety shipyards, mines, and railroads, that slowed down 

depends on the wheels of industry at a time when the nation 
harmony . J . 

needed a maximum of production to provide the 
materials of war. But here, again, the common purpose of win¬ 
ning the war, which inspired both employers and wage earners, 
caused them to adjust their differences. In nearly every case 
one group or the other, or both groups, yielded certain points 
and agreed not to quarrel over others, at least during the war. 
The government helped in this matter by creating labor adjust¬ 
ment boards to hear complaints and settle disputes. 


OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY 


71 


There are examples taken from the experience of the war to 
illustrate the menace to our national community life of an ex¬ 
aggerated self-interest on the part of the individuals 
and groups that make up our population; and how 
possible it is to secure nation-wide team work 
among all the diverse elements if only they are 
aroused by a sufficiently strong common purpose. 

One observer during the war wrote: 

When the benefits which come to the nation through the creation of the 
national army are catalogued, the fact that it has welded the country into 
a homogeneous society, seeking the same national ends and animated by 
the same national ideals, will overtop all other advantages. The organization 


The nation 
must be a 
team in 
which each 
man plays 
his part 



Forty-four Nationalities — All Americans 


of the selected army fuses the thousand separate elements making up the 
United States into one steelhard mass. Men of the North, South, East, and 
West meet and mingle, and on the anvil of war become citizens worthy of 
the liberty won by the first American armies. 1 

1 Major Granville R. Fortesque, in National Geographic Magazine, Dec., 1917. 








72 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


This welding of parts of the nation together by the common 
purpose presented by the World War is illustrated by the words 
of an old Confederate soldier who wrote to a friend in the North: 


During the war between the states I was a rebel, and continued so in 
heart until this great war. But now I am a devoted follower of Uncle Sam 
and endorse him in every respect. 


In his Conscription Proclamation in 1917 President Wilson 


declared: 

It is not an army that we must shape and train for war . . . it is a Nation. 
To this end our people must draw close in one compact front against a 
common foe. But this cannot be if each man pursues a private purpose. 
The Nation needs all men, but it needs each man, not in the field that will 
most pleasure him, but in the endeavor that will best serve the common good 
. . . The whole Nation must be a team, in which each man must play the 
part for which he is best fitted. 


“We must all speak, act, and serve together,” he said in his 
Message to the American People in April, 1917. 

“Do your bit!” became the watchword of the time. It was 
splendid to see how personal interests gave way before the de- 
Personal sire to serve the nation. It is a thrilling story how 
yield 6 *) 8 t ^ ie rac i a l elements in our population forgot dififer- 
national ences of race and language and remembered only 
needs that they were American; how employers and em¬ 

ployees laid aside their disputes; how farmers and businessmen, 
manufacturers and mechanics, miners and woodsmen, scientists 
and inventors, doctors and nurses, women in the home, teachers 
and children in the schools, and every other class and group 
subordinated their personal interests to the one national pur¬ 
pose of winning the war in order that “the world might become 
a decent place in which to live.” 

We have said that the common purpose which welded the 
people of our nation together so effectively for common action 
was that of “winning the war.” But there were 
nationaT 111011 P ur P oses t ^ iat lay much deeper than this, purposes 
purpose without which it would not have been worth while 


OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY 


73 



to enter the war at all. We have just seen that President Wilson 
said that it was in order that “ the world might become a decent 
place in which to live”; and he also said (see page 9) that it was 
to help “make the world safe for democracy.” It was in order 
that, “for ourselves first and all others in their time,” we might 
have greater “freedom” to enjoy “life, liberty, and the pursuit 
of happiness.” 


The Council of National Defense 

Those seated are the Cabinet members of the Council. They are, from left to 
right, Secretaries Houston (Agriculture), Daniels (Navy), Baker (War), Lane 
(Interior), and Wilson (Labor). 

Now these are all very general and “idealistic” terms, and we 
may want to turn back to the first chapter of this book, and to 
page 22 of the second chapter, for a translation of these terms 
into everyday language. But what we want to notice is that 
these ideals or purposes which transformed our nation into so 
effective a community in time of war are those that lie at the 
basis of our national life all the time. They are those stated in 
















74 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


unmixed 

evil 


the Declaration of Independence, and for which the War of 
Independence was fought. They are those declared in the pre¬ 
amble to our Constitution upon which our government rests. 
They are those which have brought all the diverse elements 
into our population from foreign lands and fuse them into an 
American nationality. They are those which the American flag 
represents at all times, in peace as in war. 

War represents the worst side of human nature; but it may 

also bring to the surface much of that which is best. Even so 

„ r , terrible a thing as war is not an unmixed evil if it 

When war , _ . . . . . . 

is not an causes the people of a nation to stop and think of 

the ideals upon which our national life is built and 
which must prevail throughout the world if man¬ 
kind is to progress. No soldier in our armies went out with a 
desire to kill; but everywhere the talk was of “ justice,” of “free¬ 
dom,” of “making the world safe for democracy” and “a decent 
place in which to live,” of “a war to end war.” We might even 
consider the war a positive blessing if it had caused the people 
of our nation and of other nations always to keep these ideals 
and purposes in mind, in peace time as well as in war, and always 
to act together as a team, as in war time, for their achievement. 

The trouble is that, when once the war is over and the im¬ 
mediate threat to national existence which war presents dis- 

When people a PP ears > t ^ ien the P e °pl e * n charge of the govern- 
forget our ments of nations, and we ourselves, forget our lofty 
purposes and fall back into selfish ways of thinking 
and acting, thus again sowing the seeds of mis¬ 
understanding, of friction, and even of war. The truth is that if 
we and the people of other nations had, in time of peace, kept 
constantly in mind the purposes for which the war was said to 
have been fought, and had acted together more effectively for 
the achievement of these purposes, war would have been less 
likely to occur if not altogether impossible. It is less easy to 
arouse a national spirit that results in national community 


national 

ideals 


OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY 


75 


action in time of peace than in time of national peril; but for 
this very reason it is necessary to be more diligent in fostering 
and extending a consciousness and understanding of our na¬ 
tional purposes, and in cultivating habits of national team work 
in everyday living. This is not only the best possible prepara¬ 
tion for war, if war must come, but it is also the best possible 
insurance against war. 

What is the foreign-born population of the United States by the latest 
census? The population of foreign parentage? 

How many different foreign nationalities are represented in the population 
of your city? 

What do the latest census reports show as to the non-English speaking 
population of our country? As to the extent of illiteracy? 

Has the rate of immigration to the United States increased or decreased 
in the last ten years? Why? 

What is the extent of illiteracy in the population of your state? How 
much has it increased or decreased in the last few years? 

What efforts are being made in your state or city to diminish illiteracy? 
In what ways may you assist in this effort? 

What have illiteracy and the use of a common language to do with 
national community life? 

Make a blackboard chart showing the country of birth of the parents and 
grandparents of each member of your class. What does it illustrate? 

What evidence is there of a strong national spirit in this country at the 
present time? In your city or state? 

What efforts are being made in your city to weld the different foreign 
elements of the population into an American nation? 

What are some conditions or influences in your city that tend to prevent 
the development of a common national spirit among the foreign elements? 

Do the present laws of the country tend to stimulate or to restrict immi¬ 
gration? Explain these laws. 

What evidences can you offer of friction between employer and employee 
groups in your city or state? What evidence is there that this friction is 
increasing or decreasing? 

7 


76 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Show how some recent strike (such as in the coal industry) affected the 
life of the nation. 

What are the regulations controlling the use and display of our country’s 
flag? Why is observance of these regulations important? 

Read President Wilson’s statement about the Declaration of Independence 
on page io. What does it mean to you? 

Another thing that the war did was to make everyone vividly 
conscious of his “membership” in the national community. 
Conscious- (Recall what was said about “membership” on 
national page 54 *) Everyone felt how much the nation 
membership meant to him personally, and everyone felt how 
much his own efforts meant to the nation; how every member 
counts in the life of the nation, and how“ the falling short of one 
may mean disaster to many.” The war experience exemplified 
strikingly the biblical statement that although “all members 
have not the same office,” nevertheless“ we, being many, are. . . 
everyone members one of another.” “ Each man,” said President 
Wilson, “must play the part for which he is best fitted,” and 
which, therefore , “will best serve the common good.” 

And so, in organizing an army, the government resorted to 
the “ selective draft.” “ Drafting” men for war service had been 
looked upon with disfavor as a form of enforced 
The selective military service. A volunteer army had been 
war time thought to be more in harmony with a democratic 
form of government. But the “selective draft” is 
in reality far more democratic than reliance upon volunteers, 
first because it treats all able-bodied men alike as to their obliga¬ 
tion to serve their country, and, second, because it sought as far 
as possible to give every man a chance to serve in the capacity 
for which he was best fitted. By it our government sought to 
organize the man-power of the nation for more complete and 
more effective team work, and with less hardship to any, than 
if it had been left to volunteer action. 


OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY 


77 


Now, in time of peace, also, there is need for something very 
like the “selective draft.” It is no less true in peace time than 
in war time that every “member” of the nation The selective 
owes it service, each in the way for which he is best draft of 
fitted. The “selective draft” of peace time is not peace 
one applied or enforced by government, but one which each 
member has to apply largely for himself. And this is mainly 
the purpose of education—to enable each member of the nation, 
in his early years, to discover the form of service for which he is 
best fitted and to train him to perform it. Indeed, we may say 
that the government does , in a manner, apply a “ selective draft” 
even in time of peace; for does it not require that every young 
citizen shall go to school for a specified number of years? This 
is the meaning of compulsory education (see chapter X, pp. 132, 
133 ). It is worth while to keep in mind, during school days, 
that individual happiness and success come most surely to those 
who discover the form of service for which they are best fitted, 
and prepare themselves for it. 

The war furnished some striking examples of how government 
operates to secure effective team work in a democracy. When we 
entered the war large numbers of people from every Team work 
part of the country flocked to the nation’s capital through 
with the desire to help in some way. Some were government 
called there by the government, others came to volunteer their 
services and to offer ideas that they thought useful. Many came 
as representatives of organizations—business and industrial 
organizations, scientific associations, civic societies. New com¬ 
mittees and associations were formed, until the number of volun¬ 
tary citizen organizations eager to do war work became almost 
too numerous to remember by name. 

Eager as all these people were to be of service, there followed 
a period of confusion. Some wanted to be shown what to do and 
how to do it. Others had very definite ideas which they magnified 
above all others. Different organizations wanted to accomplish 


78 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


makes 
partners 
of the 


the same purpose, but wanted to accomplish it in different way s. 
Often they duplicated one another’s efforts. A war could hardly 
be won under such conditions. Order was finally evolved out of 
this confusion under the leadership and direction of the govern¬ 
ment. 

We expect government to exercise powers in war time that it 
would not be permitted to exercise in time of peace. In fact, it 
Government limited the amount of coal that people could buy, 
fixed the prices of many articles, determined the 
wages that should be paid for labor, took over the 
people management of railroads and of means of communi¬ 

cation, and did many other things that are not customary in time 
of peace and that may have seemed sometimes to interfere with 
personal freedom. But even under the stress of war the govern¬ 
ment did not seek to “ride rough-shod” over the people, but 
rather to “make them partners in an enterprise which after all 
was their own.” 

For example, the President created the United States Food 
Administration to carry out the provisions of a law passed by 
FoodAdminis- Congress “to provide further for the national se¬ 
curity and defense by encouraging the production, 
conserving the supply, and controlling the distri¬ 
bution of food products and fuel.” He placed at 
its head Herbert Hoover, who gathered about him 
men familiar with problems relating to the food supply of the 
nation, and then proceeded to enlighten the country regarding 
these problems and to seek their cooperation in solving them. 
He issued a statement in which, after giving the facts about the 
available food supply, he said: 


tration as an 
example 
of the 
theory of 
government 


If we can reduce our consumption of wheat flour by i pound, our meat by 
7 ounces, our sugar by 7 ounces, per person per week, these quantities 
multiplied by 100,000,000 (our population) will immeasurably aid and 
encourage our allies, help our own growing armies, and so effectively serve the 
great and noble cause of humanity in which our nation has embarked. 


OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY 


79 



A year later a member of the Food Administration was quoted 
as saying, “There’s never been anything like it in history . . . 
We asked the American people to do voluntarily more than any 
other people has ever been asked to do under compulsion. And 
the American people made good!” 

This illustration contains the whole theory of government in 
a democracy: it provides the machinery and the leadership by 
which an enlightened people may cooperate in self government. 


A Part of Our New Merchant Fleet 
Loading at Mobile, Alabama 

As we proceed through later chapters of this book, we shall 
consider the extent to which, and the methods by which, our 
government puts this theory into practice. 

Some one has said, “Blessed be the country which even in 
time of war creates institutions the highest aim of which is to 
cultivate the arts of peace.” 1 We might supplement this by 

1 Michael Pupin, “From Immigrant to Inventor .”—Scribner 




8o 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


saying,“Fortunate is the country which in time of peace profits 
by the lessons taught by the experience of war.” 

During the war, strange as it may seem, while 
our nation was devoting its energies to the work of 
destruction incident to war, it made astonishing 
progress in arts and activities favorable to per¬ 
manent nation-building. 

In some directions progress was made in a year or two that 
under ordinary circumstances might have required a generation. 
One illustration of this was in the development of a merchant 
fleet, the lack of which our nation had long deplored. Beginning 
with almost no merchant ships at the beginning of the war, we 
constructed in less than two years a merchant fleet larger than 
that of any other nation, in the face of constant destruction of 
ships by the enemy. It is true that many of these ships were 
“scrapped” after the war, partly because they were not alto¬ 
gether of a type to meet the requirements of world commerce in 
time of peace. Nevertheless a great impetus was given to the 
development of a merchant marine. 

Astonishing progress was made in scientific knowledge, and 
especially in its application to invention and industrial pro¬ 
cesses, largely as a result of the work of the National Research 
Council, one of the institutions created during the war “the 
highest aim of which is to cultivate the arts of peace.” Natural 
resources were discovered and brought into use, of the existence 
of which in our country we had hardly been aware. New interest 
in agriculture was stimulated, and we learned the food values 
of many products that had formerly been neglected. The re¬ 
lation between wholesome home life and industrial efficiency 
was forced upon the attention of the country, and the great 
problem of suitable housing for workmen was seriously attacked. 
The foundations, at least, were laid for the adjustment of the 
unfortunate difference that had long existed between workmen 
and their employers. 


Nation 
building 
in war 
time 


OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY 


81 


These are just a few illustrations of the progress made in the 
“arts of peace” under the conditions of national community life 
produced by the war. Do they not suggest the possibilities of 
national progress if only, in time of peace, we show the same 
devotion to our national ideals that we showed when our na¬ 
tional life seemed to be in danger; if only the nation can main¬ 
tain its teamwork in which “each man shall play the part for 
which he is best fitted?” 



Courtesy of the National Academy of Sciences 

The Home of the National Academy of Sciences and the 
National Research Council 

No course of instruction in civics can accomplish a great deal 
in the preparation of young people for citizenship, unless at the 
same time they are acquiring experience in active Practice 
citizenship and forming habits of civic action, in national 
Reference has already been made, on page 36, to 
the practical service rendered to the nation by young citizens 








82 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


during the war. Although the government did not apply the 
selective draft to women or to children, nevertheless abundance 
of service was found for them to do and every one of them was 
expected to “do his bit.” There was much talk, at the time, of 
the value to the nation of the training and experience that 
children and young people were getting in organized team work 
on a national scale through membership in such national or¬ 
ganizations as the Boy Scouts, the School Garden Army, the 
Junior Red Cross and others. 

Opportunity for organized cooperation on a national scale is 
perhaps not so abundant in time of peace as it was in time of 
war, but it is by no means lacking. The Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, 
Girl Pioneers, and Campfire Girls antedate the war and are still 
performing important national service. Some of the national 
organizations created in war time have disappeared, like the 
School Garden Army. The Junior Red Cross is by far the most 
extensive of the organizations for boys and girls created in war 
time, and since the war it has spread throughout the world in 
a most amazing fashion. It is a fine example of those “institu¬ 
tions created in time of war whose highest aim is to cultivate 
the arts of peace.” Through such organizations as these young 
people may find opportunity for practical service to the nation, 
and training for the citizenship of the future. 

Does your school in fact assist you to discover the form of service for 
which you are best fitted? How? What more do you think it could do to 
help you in this matter? 

Report on methods by which the government controlled railroads during 
the late war. In what ways does it control them at present? 

Can you mention a number of scientific and commercial developments 
resulting from or stimulated by the war? 

Can you name any subjects of study in the schools of your city that were 
introduced or that have received new emphasis as a result of the war? 

Report on the work of the National Academy of Sciences and the National 
Research Council. 

In what ways does your school afford opportunity for the practice of 
citizenship, locally and nationally? 


OUR NATIONAL COMMUNITY 83 

Do you belong to any organization that stimulates and organizes coopera¬ 
tion on a nation-wide scale? Explain. 

Report on the work of the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and similar organiza¬ 
tions as a means of service to the nation. As a means of civic training. 

Report on the work of the Junior Red Cross in the same respects. If your 
school is not enrolled in the Junior Red Cross apply to your local Red Cross 
Chapter, or to the American National Red Cross, Washington, D. C., for 
publications explaining the Junior Red Cross organization and program, 
and discuss the desirability of enrolling your school. 

READINGS 

In Long’s American Patriotic Prose: 

Van Dyke, “The Blending of Races,” p. 4. 

De Crevecceur, “The American,” p. 38. 

Webster, “Imaginary Speech of John Adams.” p. 77. 

Brooks, “The Fourth of July in Westminster Abbey,” p. 89. 

Van Dyke, “The Americanism of Washington,” pp. 135 - 137 - 

Jay, “Unity as a Protection against Foreign Force and Influence,” p. 139. 

Webster, “Liberty and Union Inseparable,” p. 158. 

Lincoln, “Gettysburg Speech,” p. 181. 

Lincoln, “Second Inaugural Address,” p. 183. 

Whitman, “Two Brothers, One North, One South,” p. 201. 

Wilson, “Spirit of America,” p. 266. 

Roosevelt, “True Americanism,” p. 270. 

Wilson, “Conscription Proclamation,” p. 283. 

Hughes, “What the Flag Means,” p. 288. 

Eliot, “Five American Contributions to Civilization,” p. 310. 

Lane, “Makers of the Flag,” p. 314- 
McCall, “America the Melting Pot,” p. 310- 
Wilson, “To Newly-Made Citizens,” p. 322. 

Gibbons, “The Republic Will Endure,” p. 340. 

Eliot, “What Americans Believe In,” p. 361. 

Abbott, “Patriotism,” p. 362. 

In Foerster and Pierson’s American Ideals: 

Wilson, “Conscription Proclamation,” p. i 75 - 
Wilson, “Americanism and the Foreign-Born,” p. 178. 

Alderman, “Can Democracy be Organized?” p. 158- 


CHAPTER VIII 

THE WORLD COMMUNITY 


Is there a world community? We have long been familiar 
with such phrases as “ the brotherhood of man” and “ the cause 
of humanity.” But how incongruous such phrases seemed in a 
world torn by war as ours was from 1914 to 1918. And yet, 
strange to say, as in the case of our national community, the 
war made us keenly conscious that, with all its imperfections, 
the world community is a reality. 

Separated by wide oceans from the rest of the world, our 
nation had grown and prospered with a sense of isolation and 


of security from the conflicts that had so frequently 




icy of avoiding entanglements in these conflicts. 
In his Farewell Address to the American People, 


Washington said: “The great rule of conduct for us in regard 
to foreign nations is, in extending our commercial relations, to 
have with them as little political connection as possible. . . . 
Why, by interweaving our destiny with that of any part of 
Europe, entangle our peace and posterity in the toils of European 
ambition, rivalship, interest, humor, or caprice? It is our true 
policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of 
the foreign world.” 

A few years later President Monroe issued his famous state¬ 
ment known as the Monroe Doctrine, which, recognizing the 
principle that Washington had stated, also denied the right of 
European powers to interfere with the free growth of the re¬ 
publican nations of North and South America. The United 
States has consistently held to this doctrine from that day 
to this. 


84 


A WORLD COMMUNITY 


85 



But great changes have occurred in the world since the time 
of Washington. The use of steam in navigation, then the sub¬ 
marine telegraph cable, and finally the radio tele- Nations have 
graph and telephone and the airplane have brought become close 
all the world into closer relations than existed be- neighbors 
tween neighboring states in our own country in the days of 
Washington and Monroe. The nations of the world have be- 


The Atlantic has been Crossed by Airplane 
From a painting by Lieut. C. E. Ruttan, U. S. N. R. F. 

This is one of a series of paintings depicting the first trans-Atlantic flight, 
the course being patrolled by war vessels. 

come very close neighbors. And so, when a prince was murdered 
in a little city of central Europe in 1914, it drew from millions 
of homes in America their sons to fight on the soil of Europe, 
in a war that involved nearly the entire world and closely 
touched the life of every individual in it. We entered the war 
because our interests were so closely bound up with those of 



86 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


other nations that we could not keep out; because “what affects 
mankind is inevitably our affair as well as the affair of the 
nations of Europe and Asia.” 

The war did not create this interdependence, it only brought 
it to our consciousness; and we shall always feel it more keenly 
as a result of the experience of the war and of the events which 
have followed it. 

The United States and the nations associated with us during 
the war occupied two-thirds of the earth’s surface and included 
What the four-fifths of its population. The governments of 
world was all these nations declared, and their peoples be- 
fightmg for lieyed, that they were fighting primarily, not for 
selfish interest such as “ports and provinces and trade,” but 
“for the common interests of the whole family of civilized na¬ 
tions—for nothing less than the cause of mankind.” 1 

The prime minister of England said,“ We must not allow any 
sense of revenge, any spirit of greed, any grasping desire, to 
overcome the fundamental principles of righteousness.” Far¬ 
away Siam declared that she entered the war “ to uphold the 
sanctity of international rights.” And little Guatemala pro¬ 
claimed that she had “from the first adhered to and supported 
the attitude of the United States in defense of the rights of 
nations, of liberty of the seas, and of international justice.” 
Our own President said that “what we demand in this war is 
nothing peculiar to ourselves. It is that the world be made fit 
and safe to live in for every peace-loving nation. . . All the 
peoples of the world are in effect partners in this interest.” 

And so it seems that the common purpose for which four- 
fifths of the world were fighting was identical with our own 
America has natlona l purpose as explained in the preceding 
fought for chapter. But what about that part of the world 

of^>thers° m a g ainst which we were fighting? It was the com¬ 
mon feeling at the time of the war that our enemies 

1 Stuart P. Sherman, American and Allied Ideals , p. 14. 


A WORLD COMMUNITY 


87 


were not the people of the countries against which we fought, 
but only their governments. “We are not fighting to put the 
Germans out, but to get them in,” as one writer said. The Presi¬ 
dent of the United States declared that we were fighting for “ the 
ultimate peace of the world and for the liberation of its peoples, 
the German peoples included” It was very much as in the Ameri¬ 
can Revolution, when the colonists had no feeling of bitterness 
against the people in England, but only against the autocratic 
British Government which refused to recognize the rights of 
the people. The English people had many times fought for the 
same rights and many of them sympathized with the American 
colonists. The winning of American independence was a victory 
for free government in England as well as in America. 

It has taken a long time for the peoples of the world to develop 
a sense of their common interests and purposes, and especially 
of their interdependence in attaining them. Differ- The growth 
ences in language, in race and color, in religious be- of human 
liefs and practices, in forms of government, even sympathy 
in such matters as dress and other habits and customs, have 
tended to obscure the fundamental likenesses of all. 

Give illustrations from your own experience or from your reading to show 
that differences in dress, language, race, or customs make friendly under¬ 
standing difficult. 

Do you think that a universal language, such as Esperanto, would help 
to prevent war? to promote friendly cooperation? Why? 

Increased opportunity for travel, better means of communi¬ 
cation, and more widespread education have greatly increased 
understanding among peoples and nations, and have disclosed 
to view the deeper ideals and aims common to all in spite of 
superficial differences. And as the peoples of the international 
world have become better acquainted, their com- cooperation 
mon interests have tended to draw them together in common 
effort. This takes place first along the lines of special interests 
which are particularly strong in certain groups. For example, 


88 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 



the modern movement of organized labor, which has developed 
in many countries, has overstepped national boundaries and 
become an international movement. 

Literature and art bind all the world together, and science 
knows no national boundaries. Although differences in religious 
belief have presented most difficult barriers among men, those 
of the same religious faith in different countries have a strong 
bond of sympathy, and there has been a slowly growing tolerance 


International Labor Conference, 1924, Geneva, Switzerland 

of one religious faith toward others. Every year there are many 
international meetings—of scientists, of educators, of medical 
men, of law makers, of athletes, of bankers, and of scores of 
other groups with common human interests. 

No other organization has done more than the Red Cross to 
extend the feeling of common brotherhood and the spirit of 





A WORLD COMMUNITY 


89 


world service. It knows no distinction of race or service of 
color or creed. At Geneva, Switzerland, is the the Red 
International Committee of the Red Cross, a Cross 
neutral body which functions mainly in time of war to enable 
the Red Cross to perform its humanitarian service even when 
nations are in conflict. After the World War a League of Red 
Cross Societies was organized which now includes in its member¬ 
ship (1927) the Red Cross Societies of fifty-four nations. 



Credit Wide World Photos 

International Friendliness Through Athletics 
A game of rugby football between Roumania and the United States at the 
Olympic Games. 

During the war a Junior Department of the American Red 
Cross was created, enrolling in its membership more than ten 
million American boys and girls to share in the Interna _ 
work of the Red Cross at home and abroad. Since tional 
the war, the Red Cross Societies of forty nations, 
largely inspired by the American example and by 
the service rendered abroad by the American Juniors, have 



go 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


organized their Junior Departments. The members of these 
forty national Junior Red Cross societies engage in a variety of 
international cooperative enterprises including correspondence 
and an exchange of articles illustrative of the life of their re¬ 
spective countries. The Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, the Camp¬ 
fire Girls, the Y. M. C. A., are other organizations that offer 
opportunity to young people to share effectively in the effort to 
foster international understanding and good will. 

Of what international meetings do you find mention in current news¬ 
papers or magazines? Report on their purposes. 

Investigate and report on the origin of the Red Cross; on its work in war 
and in peace. 

Report on the work of the Junior Red Cross in its international relations 
(see references at end of chapter). 

Apply to your local Red Cross Chapter, or to the National Headquarters 
of the American Red Cross at Washington, D. C., for information regarding 
the Junior Red Cross plan of international school correspondence. Discuss 
the desirability of engaging in such correspondence. 

Report on the modern Olympic Games. In what ways do they promote 
international understanding? 

How do the Boy Scouts, the Girl Scouts, and similar organizations pro¬ 
mote international understanding and good will? 

In 1874 the Universal Postal Union was formed, and in 1875 
the International Union of Weights and Measures. The latter 
has “given to many peoples a common language of 
experiments weight and measure,” while the former has regular- 
in cooperation j ze d and unified the postal service throughout the 
governments civilized world. Another successful experiment in 
international cooperation among governments and 
peoples is that of the North and South American republics. The 
first Pan American Conference, attended by delegates from the 
twenty-one American nations, met in Washington in 1889. As a 
result the Pan American Union was established, with permanent 


A WORLD COMMUNITY 


91 


headquarters in Washington. Its purpose is “the development 
of commerce, friendly intercourse, and good understanding 
among these countries. ,, 

Many international peace congresses have been held, the first 
as early as 1843, and a host of permanent organizations have 
appeared in this and other countries to promote The move _ 
peace and the elimination of war as a means of mentfor 
settling international disputes. The National world P eace 
Council for the Prevention of War lists more than a hundred 



Pan-American Building, Washington, D. C. 

organizations in the United States in 1927 that are working by 
one means or another to this common end. As a result of two 
peace conferences held at The Hague, Holland, in 1899 and 
1907, an International Court of Arbitration was created (The 
Hague Tribunal), before which nations might bring their dis¬ 
putes for arbitration if they so desired. 

8 








92 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Civilized nations have always had their official means of deal¬ 
ing with one another through their governments, such as the 
International diplomatic and consular services. Alliances have, 
government f rom time immemorial, been made between nations, 
treaties have been solemnly agreed to, and a body of inter¬ 
national law has gradually grown up. But treaties and inter¬ 
national law have frequently been violated, and no international 
government has existed with authority or power to force nations 
to observe the law or to keep their agreements. Nations have a 
strong sense of their nationality, and are extremely jealous of 
their sovereignty, which is the supreme power claimed by every 
nation to form its own government and to manage its own affairs 
without interference by other nations. It is this, more than any¬ 
thing else, that has prevented the development of anything like 
a real international government that could control the conduct 
of individual nations, or that could require a nation to submit 
its grievances to any judge other than itself. 

The idea of some kind of league of nations with a central 
organization is not a new one, but it was revived by the World 
The League War. It was largely due to the efforts of President 
of Nations Wilson that a Covenant for a League of Nations 
was made a part of the Treaty of Peace. At the opening of 1927 
fifty-five nations were members of the League so created, in¬ 
cluding Germany, Austria, Bulgaria, and Hungary, against whom 
the United States and her associates were fighting in 1917. The 
United States is one of seven nations remaining outside. 1 For 
to the bitter disappointment of President Wilson, the United 
States Senate, after a long struggle, refused to ratify the Cov¬ 
enant without certain important reservations. This action was 
apparently approved by the people, for, at the next election, 
the Democratic candidate for the Presidency, who favored en¬ 
tering the League, was defeated. The Senate’s rejection of the 


1 Costa Rica withdrew from the League December 31, 1926, and Brazil and Spain 
gave notice, in 1926, of their intention to withdraw to take effect in two years. 


A WORLD COMMUNITY 


93 


Covenant as it stood was based largely on the ground that to 
enter the League on the terms of the Covenant would be a de¬ 
parture from the principles of Washington and Monroe, and 
would endanger the sovereignty of the United States. But of 
the total population of the world (about i ,850,000,000), approxi¬ 
mately 1,500,000,000 are included in the League of Nations, 
while only about 317,000,000 are not included. 

The headquarters of the League of Nations are at Geneva. 



Assembling of the Peace Conference at Paris, France 
President Poincare' of France, in opening the conference said, “You hold in your 
hands the future of the world.” 

Its governing organization consists of a Council and an Assem¬ 
bly, which are served by a “ secretariat” of special- „ 

. . . .. . . . i-i Governing 

ists in the many political, economic, and social organiza- 

questions with which the League has to deal. But league* 116 
this “ government” of the League has no such 
powers as those possessed by national governments. It bears 
some resemblance to the government of the United States under 




94 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


the Articles of Confederation prior to 1789. It cannot compel 
any line of action on the part of a member nation any more than 
the Continental Congress could compel action on the part of 
one of the thirteen states. It has no real executive power. 

But the League of Nations does provide “a method of or¬ 
ganized, systematic and continuous cooperation” among the 
member states instead of the “ unorganized, spas¬ 
modic and casual effort” of pre-war times. Many 
questions of vital international importance have 
been brought before the League organization for 
consideration, and in many cases agreements have 
been reached. In a few cases important political questions that 
might easily have led to war, such as international boundary 
disputes, have been settled amicably. The League is especially 
active in the consideration of economic and social problems, as 
in the field of health, in child welfare, in financial matters, in 
relation to transportation and communication, in the fields of 
art and science and intellectual cooperation. Never before has 
there been such sustained effort to arrive at international agree¬ 
ment upon questions affecting the welfare of the human race. 

Although the United States is not a member of the League 
of Nations, it has in a number of instances used the machinery 
of the League as a means of cooperation with other countries. 
In many other instances, American citizens have, on invitation, 
participated in the business of the League without officially rep¬ 
resenting the United States Government. 

In accordance with one of the provisions of the Covenant of 

the League of Nations, one of the first acts of its Council was 

Permanent or g an i ze a Commission of jurists to draft a plan 

Court of for a Permanent Court of International Justice. 

International Eiih u Root of New York served as a member of 
Justice 

this Commission. By the end of 1926 forty-nine 
nations had voted adherence to this new international court. 
The United States Senate also voted adherence, but with cer- 


Organized, 
systematic 
and con¬ 
tinuous 
cooperation 


A WORLD COMMUNITY 


95 


tain important “reservations,” one of which was “that such 
adherence shall not be taken to involve any legal relation on 
the part of the United States to the League of Nations or the 
assumption of any obligations by the United States under the 
Treaty of Versailles.” The United States Senate also stipulated 
that the United States should not sign the agreement until the 
other signatory powers “shall have indicated, through an ex¬ 
change of notes, their acceptance of the foregoing reservations 
and understandings.’’ Since few of the other powers have so far 
indicated their acceptance of the reservations, the United States 
is not yet (July, 1927) a “member” of the Court. Nevertheless, 
another American, John Bassett Moore, was elected by the 
Council and Assembly of the League as one of the judges. 

The new Permanent Court of International Justice is not to 

be confused with the older International Court of Arbitration. 

Both have their seat at The Hague. When two 

„ , . „ .. . . , The World 

nations wish to arbitrate a dispute before the court and 

Court of Arbitration, each of them selects two J h .? Ha f ue 

“arbitrators,” and these four select a fifth to act 

as umpire, all from a list, or panel, comprising four men from 

each of the 43 nations which are members of this court. This 

court of five arbitrators, selected by the disputant nations, serve 

only for the particular case for which they have been selected. 

The new Permanent Court of International Justice, or World 

Court, on the other hand, is made up of eleven judges who are 

elected by the Council and Assembly of the League of Nations 

for a term of nine years, and who deal with all cases brought 

before the Court. The new World Court is open to any nation 

in the world that desires to use it, whether it is a member of 

the League of Nations or not. 

The League of Nations and the World Court are still on trial. 
Whether or not they can withstand the strain put upon them 


g6 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


by national self interests and jealousies remains to 
ment xpen " be seen. There is still suspicion and antagonism 

wortfi among nations. War has not yet come to an end. 

The League machinery has not operated smoothly 
in every case. Three of the smaller nations have withdrawn 
from it, or declared their intention to withdraw. Whether or 



Courtesy of the League of Nations Non-Partisan Association 

Commission of Jurists which Planned the Permanent Court of 
International Justice 

Elihu Root is the central figure at this end of the table. 

not the United States shall ever formally enter the League re¬ 
mains for the future to unfold. 

Nevertheless, there has never before been, in all history, so 
nearly a universal effort among the nations of the earth to 
understand one another and to work together on a friendly basis 
in the common interest of all. 





A WORLD COMMUNITY 


97 


In contemplating the gradual evolution of a world community, 
it is well to keep in mind that “ what is required is not less loyalty 
to one’s nationality, but more sympathetic under- The new 
standing of nationalities and national ideals differ- patriotism 
ent from one’s own, combined with a recognition of the funda¬ 
mental interests . . . which unite them to each other .” 1 

The real patriot of today no longer cries, “ My country against 
the world,” but “ My country for the world .” 2 

Report on the organization and work of the Universal Postal Union. On 
that of the International Union of Weights and Measures. 

Describe the work of the Pan American Union. 

Report on questions that have been settled by The Hague Tribunal. 

What are the diplomatic and consular services? What is the difference 
between them? 

What are some international laws? 

What is the meaning of “nationality”? Are the states that comprise our 
Union “sovereign”? 

Debate the question, “ Resolved , that the United States should enter the 
League of Nations.” 

What are some of the “vital questions” that have been, or are being 
considered by the Council and Assembly of the League of Nations? 

Report on some of the things that the League of Nations is doing in the 
field of health? 

How has the United States made use of the machinery of the League of 
Nations? 

Give a biographical sketch of Elihu Root. What are some things he has 
done to promote international good will? 

What countries are represented by the eleven jurists who form the 
World Court? 

READINGS 

In Long’s American Patriotic Prose: 

Washington, “Farewell Address,” pp. 105-124. 

Washington, “Proclamation of Neutrality,” pp. 143-146. 

“The Monroe Doctrine,” pp. 148-149. 

John Quincy Adams, “The Mission of America,” pp. 149-150. 

1 “Thoughts on Nationalism and Internationalism,” in History Teachers' Maga¬ 
zine, June, 1918, p. 334. 

2 Stuart P. Sherman, American and Allied Ideals, p. 14. 


9» 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


George F. Hoar, “A Warning Against the Spirit of Empire,” pp. 244-247. 
Woodrow Wilson, “Spirit of America,” pp. 266-268. 

Franklin K. Lane, “Why We Are Fighting Germany,” pp. 282-283. 

Carl Schurz, “The Rule of Honor for the Republic,” pp. 342-343. 

Woodrow Wilson, “War Message of April 2, 1917,” PP- 351-361. 

In Foerster and Pierson’s American Ideals: 

Washington, “Counsel on Alliances” (Farewell Address), pp. 185-189. 

“The Monroe Doctrine,” pp. 190-193. 

Henry Clay, “The Emancipation of South America,” pp. 194-199. 

Robert E. Lansing, “Pan-Americanism,” pp. 200-296. 

A. Lawrence Lowell, “A League to Enforce Peace,” pp. 207-223. 

George G. Wilson, “The Monroe Doctrine and the League to Enforce Peace,” 
pp. 224-232. 

Woodrow Wilson, “The Conditions of Peace,” pp. 233-241. 

Woodrow Wilson, “War for Democracy and Peace,” pp. 242-256. 

Consult your public library and the Readers' Guide for books and magazine articles 
relating to the League of Nations and the World Court, and the different views 
in the United States regarding membership in them. Study both sides of the 
question. 

World Peace Foundation, 40 Mt. Vernon St., Boston 9, Mass., is the American 
agent for the sale of official publications of the League of Nations. Among these 
is the Monthly Summary, “a readable account of all League activities in magazine 
form” ($1.00 a year). 

The Yearbooks of the League of Nations, published by the World Peace Founda¬ 
tion, are very useful. The Seventh Yearbook, 1926, price 25 cents, contains a 
detailed description of the organization and work of the League. The Founda¬ 
tion also publishes a pamphlet on “American Cooperation with Other Nations 
through the League of Nations,” (price 5 cents). Write to the Foundation 
for a list of its other publications. 

Across Borderlines, vol. II of “Books of Goodwill,’’published by the National Council 
for the Prevention of War, Washington, D. C., contains good material. The 
National Council issues other literature, including a pamphlet listing more than a 
hundred organizations in the United States promoting better international under¬ 
standing. Many of these organizations have their publications. 

The American Red Cross publishes pamphlets descriptive of the international 
program of the Junior Red Cross, including its plan of international school 
correspondence. 

The Pan American Union, Washington, D. C., issues various publications including 
a series of illustrated pamphlets descriptive of the several Latin-American 
countries. 

The League of Nations Non-Partisan Association, 6 E. 39th St., New York, publishes 
a series of charts for school use visualizing the work of the League of Nations. A 
set of 28 of these charts, unmounted, may be had for $3. 00. 


CHAPTER IX 


THE HOME 

“No nation can be destroyed while it possesses a good home life.” 

The home is the smallest, the simplest, and the most familiar 
community of which we are members. In many respects it is 

also the most important. 
The quotation with which 
this chapter opens sug¬ 
gests this. It will appear at 
many points in our study. 

What do you think that the 
quotation at the head of the 
chapter means? In what re¬ 
spects do you think it true? 

Some cities take pride in the 
fact that they are “cities of 
homes.” What does this mean? Why is it a cause for pride? 

Is your community (neighborhood or town) a community of homes? 

What is a “home”? When a person is “homesick” for what is he 
“sick”? 

May a good home exist in a poor dwelling? A poor home in a fine 
dwelling? 

Is a hotel a home? May a family living in a hotel have a home there? 

Is an orphan asylum a home ? Would you exchange life in your own home 
for life in an orphan asylum? Why? There are children who think an 
orphan asylum is a fine place to live; why is this? 

The home is important (i) because of what it does for its 
own members, and (2) because of what it does for the larger 
community of which it is a part. We shall consider first what 
it does for its own members. 



99 







IOO 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Under the conditions of pioneer life the wants of the members 
of the family were provided for almost entirely by their own 
united efforts. They built their own dwelling from The pioneer 
materials which they themselves procured from the famil y 
forest. They made their living from the land which they oc¬ 
cupied, with tools which were largely homemade. They pro¬ 
vided their own defense against attack from without and against 
sickness within. Such education as the children obtained was 


A Pioneer Home in the Arid Lands of the West 

of the most practical kind, and was obtained by actual experi¬ 
ence in their daily work supplemented by such instruction as 
parents and older brothers and sisters could give. There was 
little social life except within the family circle. 

When other homes were built in the neighborhood a larger 
community life began. The neighboring homes came to 
depend upon one another and to cooperate in Effect of 
many ways. The store at the crossroads provided community 
for many wants that each home had formerly pro- growth 
vided for itself. The doctor who came to live in the community 












THE HOME 


IOI 


relieved the home of much anxiety in case of sickness. The 
education of the children was in part, at least, turned over to 
the community school. And so, as a community grows, the 
home shifts much of the responsibility for providing for the 
wants of its members upon community agencies. 



A Community of Homes in Reclaimed Desert Land 

“The underlying purpose of Government reclamation has been to provide 
homes on the land.” 

This shifting of responsibility for the welfare of citizens 
from the home to the larger community is carried furthest in 
Dependence cities. Almost everything wanted in the home 
of the may be bought in the city shops, and work that 

city home j s ^one j n ^e home for the family, such as repair 
work, dressmaking, laundry work, and cooking, is likely to 
be done by people brought in from outside. Water is piped 
in from a public water supply and sewage is piped out through 
public sewers. Gas and electricity for lighting and heating 
are furnished by city plants. Since many city homes have 







102 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 



not a spot of ground for a garden or for outdoor play, they 
depend upon public parks and playgrounds provided by the city. 
These are among the many so-called advantages of city life. 

When so much is done for the citizen by the larger com¬ 
munity agencies, there is danger that the family may forget 
its own responsibility for the welfare of its mem- The obliga _ 
bers in connection with every want of life. For tion of the 
no matter how good the community’s arrange- home 
ments for health protection may be, the health of every citizen 


The Business of Farming Is Carried on at Home 
I n this case, apparently, a well-managed business. 

depends more upon the home than upon any other agency (see 
Chapter XX). No matter how good the schools, the home 
always has great responsibility for the education of the chil¬ 
dren, both within the home itself and through cooperation 
with the schools (Chapter XIX). No matter how many 
social organizations and places of amusement the community 
may afford, the social and recreational life of the home is the most 
important of all and the most far-reaching in its influence 








THE HOME 


103 


(Chapter XXI). No matter how excellent the form of govern¬ 
ment in a community may be, its results will be very imperfect 
unless the government in each home is good. 

The home has especial importance in the rural community 
of to-day. The rural home is no longer so isolated and self- 
dependent as the pioneer home, but the life of the 
rural citizen is much more dependent upon efforts 
within the home itself than the life of the city resi¬ 
dent. The business of farming by which the 
family living is secured is carried on at home, and, as a rule,, 
all the members of the family have some part in it. It is a 
cooperative family enterprise to a much greater extent than any 
other modern business. 


Importance 
of the home 
in rural 
communities 


In cities, in the great majority of cases, the work by which the family 
living is earned is done away from home, and very often no member of the 
family except the father has any direct part in it. There are numerous 
cases, however, where the mother and even the children go out to work, and 
in such cases the home life may be seriously interfered with. 

It would be hard to find a rural home in the United States 
to-day that is not near enough to a schoolhouse to enable the 
children to attend it, at least for an elementary education. 
Unfortunately high schools are not yet easily accessible in all 
rural communities (see Chapter XIX). But whether the edu¬ 
cation afforded by the rural school is of the best or not, the boy 
or girl on the farm gets in addition a kind of education through 
the varied occupations of the farm life that the city boy or girl 
does not get, and for which the city schools have tried in vain 
to find an adequate substitute. It is remarkable how many of 
the successful men and women of our country were raised on 
farms; and they almost always bear witness to the value of 
the training received there. 

So in matters of health, of social life and recreation, of pleas¬ 
ant and beautiful surroundings, the rural home must depend 
very largely upon itself. The strength and happiness of the 


104 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


community, of our nation itself, depend largely upon the extent 
to which the homes perform their proper work in providing for 
the wants of their members. 

Review what was said in Chapter II regarding the independence of the 
pioneer family. 

Review also what was said in Chapter I regarding the growing depend 
ence of the family upon the community. 

Gather stories regarding pioneer home life (a) in your own locality; 
( b ) in the settlement of the West; (c) in colonial times. Illustrate from 
these stories how the home provided for the wants of its members. 

Show in detail how the various members of a farmer’s family take part 
in the business of farming. Compare with a family in town whose living is 
provided for by some other business. 

Make a list of the different people who come to the home of a family 
in town to provide for its wants (such as the grocer’s boy, the milkman, the 
postman, etc.). Compare with a farmer’s home with respect to this service 
from outside. 

We have read in an earlier chapter (p. 9) that “our national 
purpose is to transmute days of dreary work into happier 
Labor saving lives — for ourselves first and for all others in 
in the home their time.” This purpose cannot be fully achieved 
if it is not first of all achieved in the home. One of the objec¬ 
tions often raised to life on the farm is that it is a life of drudgery, 
of few conveniences and comforts, of long hours, hard work, 
and little recreation. Happily this is not so true as it once 
was. Labor-saving machinery, better methods of transporta¬ 
tion and communication, better schools, have done much to 
improve conditions of rural home life. But occasionally there 
still come statements like the following from some of the women 
in farm homes: 

In many homes life on the farm is a somewhat one-sided affair. Many 
times the spare money above living expenses is expended on costly machinery 
and farm implements to make the farmer’s work lighter; on more land 
where there is already a sufficiency; on expensive horses and cattle and new 
out-buildings; while little or nothing is done for home improvement and no 
provision made for the comfort and convenience of the women of the family. 


THE HOME 


io 5 

If a silo will help to reduce the man’s labor, a vacuum cleaner will do 
likewise for his wife. If the stock at the barn needs a good water system 
to help it grow, the stock in the house needs it too, and needs it warm for 
baths. 

You see many a farm where there is a cement floor in the bam, while the 
cellar in the house is awful. A sheep dip, but no bathtub; a fine buggy 
and a poor baby carriage. On many farms a hundred dollars in cash are 
not spent in the home in a year. 



A Household Industry in the City 
Picking out nuts for confectionery in a city tenement house. 


These are not meant as complaints about the purchase of 
labor-saving farm machinery. Such complaints would be 
short-sighted, for it is only by improved methods Equal 
of farming that the means and the leisure can be opportunities 
found to enrich the home life in every way. But in the home 
the advantages gained by improvements that increase the 
farmer’s returns are largely lost if they do not at the same time 
bring “happier lives” to the family as a whole. The farm home 
is not only the place where the family living is earned; it is 










io6 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


also the place where the family life is lived. Democracy aims 
at equal opportunity to enjoy “life, liberty, and the pursuit 
of happiness”; “days of dreary work” must be transmuted 
into “ happier lives ” for the women and children as well as for 
the men. Unless this is done in the home there is little chance 
of its being done at all. 

A story is told of a housekeeper in a farm-home in the West who 

saw in the sacred rite of old-school housekeepers something more than scrub¬ 
bing and polishing. . . . When her housecleaning was over she knew 
just what linen she would need during the coming year, just how much 
fruit and vegetables she would need to can or preserve or dry, just what 
clothing must be replaced or repaired, and what dishes would be needed 
to keep her set complete. She not only made changes to improve the 
appearance of her house, but planned and made the changes in her work¬ 
shop which would save steps and make her work as easy as possible. When 
her mind got to work, housekeeping became a game, the object being to 
eliminate all unnecessary labor. Her benches and tables and sinks were 
raised to the proper height and she became ashamed of the back-breaking 
energy she had wasted bending over them. A high stool, made by removing 
the back and arms from the baby’s outgrown high chair, made dishwashing 
and ironing much easier. She has been housekeeping intelligently a dozen 
years, yet each house-cleaning or stock-taking period she installs some new 
labor saver. 

She not only makes her head save her heels, but she takes another kind 
of inventory which is as well worth while. It is the inventory which we 
all need to take of ourselves to be sure that we are making the best of our 
opportunities instead of drifting along day by day in a rut. She searches 
out the hidden places in her soul to see if she is just as patient, as thoughtful, 
as cheerful as she might be. ... 1 

In some rural communities the home has been relieved of 
much of the household drudgery by the development of coopera- 
Community ^ ve creamer i e s, cooperative laundries, and other 
cobperation community institutions to do work that was for- 
and the home mer jy done entirely in the home. In such coopera¬ 
tive enterprises citizens of the community buy shares of stock as 

1 Reclamation Record, Feb., 1918, p. 55, “Project Women and Their Materials,” 
by^Mrs. Louella Littlepage. 


THE HOME 


107 


in the case of the fruit growers’ association (p. 26). In one 
community in Michigan “a vote was taken, the women voting as 
well as the men, to determine the sentiment of the community 
on the establishment of such a laundry, and the vote was so 
overwhelmingly in favor of the proposition that the Farmers’ 
Club promptly called a meeting to promote the enterprise.” 
An addition was built to the cooperative creamery, which the 
community already possessed, so that the same steam plant 
could be used for both. The farmers brought their laundry 
when they brought their cream, and carried it back on the next 
trip. “The laundry has been successful in relieving the hard 
life of a farmer’s wife, and in addition has been not only self- 
sustaining but a profitable institution.” One of the women of 
the community says, 

It has lightened the work in the home to such an extent that one can 
manage the work without keeping help, which is very scarce and high 
priced, when it would be impossible to do so if the washing was included 
with our other duties. 

And another writes, 

This change gives me two days of recreation that I can call my own 
every week and also gives me more time in which to accomplish the house¬ 
hold duties . 1 

A great deal of help is now being given to the home by the 
government, and this is especially true in the case of the rural 
home. The public schools, both in city and Government 
country, now consider home making and “home serves the 
economics” as worthy of a place in the course of home 
study as geography and mathematics (see Chapter XIX). 
State agricultural colleges are beginning to give as much atten¬ 
tion to these subjects as they do to soils and fertilizers and 
stock-breeding. Moreover, the colleges conduct “extension 
courses,” sending teachers trained in the art of home making 

1 “A Successful Rural Cooperative Laundry,” in the Year Book, Department of 
Agriculture, 1915, pp. 189-194* 


io8 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


to give instruction to women and girls in every part of the 
state. They assist in organizing clubs of girls and women to 
study various aspects of home making and housekeeping, and 
give demonstrations of the most successful methods of cooking, 
of canning, and of other activities connected with home life on 
the farm, as well as of labor-saving devices in the household. 
The state agricultural colleges have the cooperation of the 
Department of Agriculture of the national government in all 
this work. 

In the Year Book of the Department of Agriculture for 
1916 there is an account of results derived from home demon- 
xiru * ^ stration work in the Southern States. The follow- 

What one 

girl ing story of what Ruth Anderson accomplished is 

accomplished a g 00C [ illustration of the possibilities of this work: 

Ruth Anderson, of Etowah County, Alabama, in her second year of club 
work, had an excellent plat of one tenth of an acre of beans and tomatoes. She 
is the second girl in a family of eleven, and takes a great interest in her club 
work. The family home was small, dark, and crowded, and somewhat 
unattractive. One day a carpenter friend of her father saw her one tenth 
of an acre and said he wished he had time to plant a garden. She told him 
she would furnish vegetables in exchange for some of his time. . . . After 
a while a bargain was made by which the carpenter agreed to begin work on 
the remodeling of the house if Ruth would furnish him with fresh and canned 
vegetables for the season. 

The other members of the family were soon interested in this undertaking 
and worked willingly to contribute their share to its success. When the 
house was partly finished Ruth won a canning-club prize given by a hard¬ 
ware merchant in Gadsden, the county seat. Silverware was offered her, 
but, intent upon completing the new house she asked the merchant how 
much a front door of glass would cost, and learned that she could get the 
door, side lights, and windows for the price of the silverware. In this 
way Ruth brought light and joy to her family with her windows and door. 
To-day they live in a pretty bungalow that she helped to build with her 
gardening and canning work. At the age of 14, in the second year of her 
work, Ruth put up 700 cans of tomatoes and 750 cans of beans. 1 

1 “Effect of Home Demonstration Work in the South,” in igi 6 Year Book 
of the Department of Agriculture, p. 254. 






THE HOME 


109 




Ruth’s Home Before and After She Began Her Work 
For a third view of Ruth’s home see Chapter XXI, page 341. 








no 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Ruth’s home before and after she began her work is shown 
in the accompanying illustrations. 

The national government helps in home making in other 
ways than those suggested above, and through other depart- 
National aid ments than that of agriculture. In the Depart- 
to the home ment of the Interior the General Land Office, the 
Bureau of Education, the Reclamation Service, the Office of 
Indian Affairs are all doing work to improve the] homes of the 
land. So, also, is the Public Health Service of the Treasury 
Department; the Bureau of Standards in the Department of 
Commerce; the Children’s Bureau in the Department of 
Labor. We shall encounter some of this work as we proceed 
with our study. 

In what ways has household work been relieved of its drudgery since 
your mothers were girls? 

What labor-saving devices have been introduced in your home? 

Make a report on labor-saving inventions for the household (see references 
at end of chapter). 

What are some labor-saving household devices that could be made by 
boys and girls (such as fireless cookers, iceless refrigerators, etc.) ? (See refer¬ 
ences below.) Can your school help in such projects? To what extent 
could (or do) boys’ and girls’ clubs undertake such projects? Is there any 
leader in your community who could direct or advise in such projects? 

Is the kitchen in your home properly arranged to save steps, labor, and 
time in doing kitchen work? Consider plans for improvement. Consult 
parents. 

Does experience in your community confirm the feeling of the women 
quoted on page 104 ? 

Are there any cooperative enterprises in your community that relieve the 
housekeeper of household labor, such as cooperative laundries, creameries, 
etc.? Are they a business success? Have they improved conditions of 
home life? 

What is the difference between a “ cooperative ” laundry and an ordinary 
laundry such as may be found in most towns? Does one relieve the home 
more than the other? 

What other business enterprises are carried on in towns that relieve 
the home of work? Why are such business enterprises not conducted in the 
same way in rural communities? 


THE HOME 


III 


Is there any special interest in home improvement in your community? 
Who or what has brought it about? What can you do to encourage such 
interest? 


READINGS 

Lessons in Community and National Life: Series C, Lesson 20, “The Family 
and Social Control.” 

For an extensive list of titles of publications relating to the home, send to the 
United States Bureau of Education, Washington, D.C. 

Earle, Alice Morse, Home Life in Colonial Days (Macmillan). 

Gillette, J. M., The Family and Society (A. C. McClurg). 

Thwing and Butler, The Family (Lothrop, Lee and Shepard Co.). 

Gilman, Charlotte P., The Home (Doubleday, Page and Co.). 

Talbot and Breckenridge, The Modern Household (Whitcomb and Barrows, 
Boston). 

Addams, Jane, The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets (Macmillan). 

Ellwood, Charles A., Sociology and Modern Social Problems, chapters on the 
family (American Book Co.). 

Scott, Rhea, Home Labor-Saving Devices (Lippincott). 

Foght, H. W., The Rural Teacher and His Work, Part I, chap. iii. 

“The American Farm Woman as She Sees Herself,” U. S. Department of Agri¬ 
culture Year Book, 1914, pp. 311-318. 

“Selection of Household Equipment,” Department of Agriculture Year Book, 
1914, pp. 339-362. 

Dunn, Arthur W., The Community and the Citizen, chaps, v, vi. 

Better Homes in America, 1653 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C., is 
an organization carrying on a nation-wide movement for better homes. It issues 
useful publications in pamphlet form, among which are: 

Guidebook for Campaigns in Rural Communities, 1927, 5 cents. 

How to Own Your Home, 15 cents. 

How to Furnish a Small Home, 25 cents. 

From the U. S. Department of Agriculture: 

“Farm Home Conveniences,” Farmers’ Bulletin 927. 

“House Cleaning Made Easier,” Farmers’ Bulletin 1180. 

“Convenient Kitchens,” Farmers’ Bulletin 1513. 


CHAPTER X 

WHY GOVERNMENT HELPS IN HOME MAKING 


Our nation requires healthy citizens, intelligent citizens, 
prosperous and happy citizens. The home can do more to 
produce them than any other community agency. Therefore 
the nation is wise to look after its homes. 

People cannot do their work well if they live in unwholesome 
or unpleasant homes. This was made clear during the recent 
r ! war. The lack of suitable living places for work- 

of home men and their families was one of the chief obstacles 
to^nd^str to shipbuilding and munitions manufacture during 
the early part of the war. England found this out 
as well as the United States, and one of the first things both 
countries had to do was to take measures to provide proper 
home conditions for those who were engaged in supplying the 
nation’s needs. During the first year of the war our Congress 
appropriated $200,000,000 to build houses for industrial workers. 

The problem of securing good physical conditions of home 
life has naturally been greatest in crowded industrial centers, 
but it is by no means absent in small communities, or even in 
the open country. One writer describes 


a certain farmhouse where five people were accustomed to sleep in one 
not very large bedroom, which had only one small window, and even that 
was nailed shut; one of these five had incipient tuberculosis. These people 
were well-to-do farmers, living in a large twelve-room, stone house and 
simply crowded into one room for the sake of mistaken economy — presum¬ 
ably to save coal and wood. 


Many such cases could be described, not only in the more 
remote and backward regions, but even in prosperous far min g 
communities. 


112 


WHY GOVERNMENT HELPS IN HOME MAKING 113 


What is the result of this overcrowding and lack of proper housing in the 
country ? Just exactly the same as in the great cities — lack of efficiency, 
disease, and premature death to many. . . . While the great majority 
of people subjected to overcrowding and bad housing conditions do not 
prematurely die, yet they have a lessened physical and mental vigor, are 
less able to do properly their daily work, and not only become a loss to 
themselves and their families, but to the state. . . J 

Some of our states and many of our cities have laws to regu¬ 
late housing conditions, but such laws seldom apply to small 
communities. In cities where people live crowded 
together in closely built city blocks, unsanitary the nation 
conditions in one home endanger the health of the depends on 
entire community. There is also danger from fire, 
and vice and crime may breed and spread quickly and unseen. 
The community is driven, therefore, in its own defense, to 
regulate the people’s housing. In small communities, and 
especially in rural communities, where homes are more widely 
separated and in some cases quite isolated, it has seemed of 
little concern to others how one citizen builds his home and what 
he does in it. Thoughtful consideration of such cases as that 
described above, however, must convince us that it is a matter 
of national concern what happens even in remote homes. 
Both the physical and the economic strength of the nation are 
undermined by unwholesome conditions in the separate homes 
of the land. 

Economic loss to the community may result not merely 
from unwholesome home conditions, but also from inconvenience 
of location and arrangement of the homes. A good Community 
deal of attention is being given to “community planning 
planning” in the United States and especially in England and 
other European countries. Community planning includes not 
only provision for the proper location and construction of 

1 Bashore, “Overcrowding and defective housing in the rural districts,” quoted 
in Nourse, Agricultural Economics, pp. 118, 119, 121. 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


114 

public buildings and streets, for water supply, lights, parks, 
etc., but also for the convenient, as well as wholesome and 
pleasant, location of homes. Large cities, like London, New 
York, Philadelphia, and Chicago, have spent enormous sums 
of money in city planning after they have already grown up 
without plan. It has necessitated destroying old structures 
and widening streets. Villages and small towns are in a posi¬ 
tion to introduce a plan for future growth without this needless 
expense. Our beautiful capital city of Washington has grown 
according to a plan that was carefully laid out before a building 
was erected. But even in Washington one of the greatest prob¬ 
lems the city had to face during the war was that of providing 
homes for the enormous number of workers who came to the 
city to do the work of the government. 

“The need of careful arrangement in country homes is 
much more urgent than in city homes for the reason that 
Planning the country people use their homes as the business 
farmstead center of their profession,” says Prof. R. J. Pearce, 
of Iowa State College. “The farmer in his business center 
must not only produce enough raw material to provide for him¬ 
self and family, but he must needs produce enough to feed and 
clothe the entire human race.” “Conservation of space must be 
taken into consideration to obtain the greatest results from 
our high-priced land; convenience must be a prime factor when 
expensive labor is at a premium; and attractiveness must be 
one of the chief motives not only to make farm property more 
saleable but to give greater enjoyment to the owner and his 
family. ...” “A farmstead is but a unit in a farming com¬ 
munity, yet travelers form an impression of the entire com¬ 
munity by individual farm homes which they see in passing. 
Therefore, not only financial consideration but personal pride 
and a feeling of community spirit and enterprise should urge 
the farm owner to develop his farmstead according to the best 
of modern methods.” 


WHY GOVERNMENT HELPS IN HOME MAKING 115 


What facts can you find in regard to what the government did to provide 
homes for workers in shipbuilding or munitions plants during the war? 

In many of the war industries preference was given to men with families 
in employing workmen. Why was this? 



An Abandoned Farm in New York State 



The Same Farm Reclaimed by Modern Methods of Farming 

In some rural communities in the United States a “teacherage” (home for 
the teacher) is provided. Of what advantage to the community is this? 

Is there a “housing problem” in your community? 

Are there any laws in your state regulating the building of homes? If so. 






COMMUNITY CIVICS 


116 

what are some of them? Do they apply in your community? Are they 
carefully observed and enforced ? 

Make a study of the arrangement of the buildings on farms with which you 
are familiar, drawing diagrams, and report whether or not they are well 
planned with reference to economy of space occupied, convenience , and 
attractiveness. Consider 

(a) Are they properly placed with reference to the highway? 

( b ) Are they conveniently placed in relation to one another ? 

(c) Are they suitably protected from the prevailing winds ? How ? 

( d ) What makes them attractive or unattractive ? 

(e) Are the stables properly situated to protect the health of the family ? 
How ? 

Must a home be large and costly to be attractive ? 

What impression would a stranger get in regard to the “community 
spirit ” of your community from the appearance of its homes ? Would he 
be right ? 

Home ownership is one of the strongest influences that give 
permanence and stability to the community. The census 
The home and taken by the United States government every ten 

community years shows that 
stability home ownership 

has been decreasing throughout 
the country as a whole. The 
decrease has been greatest in 
cities, but it is true also of 
farm home ownership. In 
1880 only 25% of the farms 
of the United States were oc¬ 
cupied by tenants (renters); 
in 1925, 38.6% were so occu¬ 
pied. It is true that in the ten years from 1900 to 1910 
there was a slight increase in the proportion of farms owned by 
their occupants in the New England and Middle Atlantic states, 
and in a large part of the West; but the increase in these parts 
was more than overbalanced by the decrease in the South 
Atlantic and Gulf states and in the Mississippi Valley. The 









WHY GOVERNMENT HELPS IN HOME MAKING 117 


smallest proportion of farm tenancy is found in New England 
(8%), and the largest in the southern states (45.9% in the 
South Atlantic states, and more than 50% in the South central 
states). A large part of the farming in the South is done by 
negroes, most of whom are either laborers on the farms of the 
white population or tenants on small farms which they usually 
work on shares. And yet the number of negro farm owners in 
the South has been rapidly increasing in the last few years, 
though not so rapidly as the number of tenants. In 1910 
negro farm owners cultivated nearly 16,000,000 acres of land 
in the South, all of which they have acquired since the Civil 
War. 

The decline in home ownership both in the cities and in the 
rural districts of the United States has been ob- Effects of 
served with considerable anxiety because of the home 
effect upon our national welfare and upon the ownership 
citizenship of the country. One writer says: 

Farming is a permanent business; it is no “ fly by night ” occupation. 
. . . No man can pull up stakes and leave a farm at the close of the year 
without sacrificing the results of labor which he has done. . . . The renter 
who ends harvest knowing that he will move in the spring, will not do as 
good a job of hauling manure and fall plowing as he would were he to stay; 
nor does he take as good care of the buildings and other improvements. . . . 

The cost to the farming business of the country each year for this 
annual farm moving-week mounts into the millions of dollars. And the 
pity of it all is that practically no one is the winner thereby. . . . The 
renter loses, the landlord loses, the general community and the nation at 
large lose. 1 

Tenant farming also places obstacles in the way of com¬ 
munity progress in other ways. 

The tenant takes little interest in community affairs. The questions 
of schools, churches, or roads are of little moment to him. He does not 

1 W. D. Boyce, in an editorial in The Farming Business, February 26, 1916, 
quoted in Nourse, Agricultural Economics, p. 651. 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


IlS 

wish to invest in enterprises which will of necessity be left wholly ... to 
his successor. In short, he is in the community, but hardly of it. 1 

A family that owns its home feels a sense of proprietorship in a 
part of the community land. The money value of a home in¬ 
creases in proportion to the prosperity of the community as a 
whole; its owner will therefore be inclined to do all he can to 
promote the welfare of the community. A community that is 
made up largely of homes owned by their occupants is likely to 
be more prosperous and more progressive, and its citizens more 
loyal to it, than a community whose families are tenants. 

While all that has been said in the preceding paragraph is 
true, it must not be thought that tenancy is necessarily a bad 
The tenant thing in all cases, nor that a man who does not own 
as a citizen his home cannot be a thoroughly good citizen. 
There are circumstances that make it necessary for many 
families to live in dwellings that they do not own. Tenancy 
may be a step toward home ownership. A citizen may have 
insufficient money to buy a farm, but enough to enable him to 
rent one. By industry, economy, and intelligence, he may soon 
accumulate means with which to buy the farm he occupies or 
some other. The increase in the number of tenants in the 
Southern States (see p. 116) is due in large part to the 
breaking up of many larger plantations into small farms which 
are occupied by tenants, many of them negroes. That many 
of these tenants are on the road to home ownership is indicated 
by the facts stated on page 117. 

It is as much the duty of the home renter as it is of the home 
owner to take an interest in the community life in which he and 
his family share, and to cooperate with his neighbors for the 
common good. While he lives in the community he is largely 
dependent upon it, like any other citizen, for the satisfaction 
of his wants. Its markets and its roads are his for the trans- 

1 B. H. Hibbard, “Farm Tenancy in the United States,” in Annals of the Ameri 
can Academy of Political and Social Science, March, 1912, p. 39. 


WHY GOVERNMENT HELPS IN HOME MAKING I IQ 

portation and disposal of his produce and stock. He gets the 
benefit of its schools for the education of his children. He may 



Which Family Takes the Greater Interest in the Community ? 

share in its social life if he cares to do so. His property is pro¬ 
tected by the same agencies that protect that of his neighbors. 













120 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


He cannot, therefore, escape the responsibility of contributing 
to the progress of his community to the extent of his ability. 

It is as much the duty of the man who rents a farm as it is 
of the man who owns one to make his farm produce to its full 
capacity, to protect the soil from exhaustion and 
between the buildings and fences from destruction. But 
amfteimnt 0n ^ ot h er hand, it is the duty of the landlord, 
both as a good business man and as a good citizen, 
to make such terms with his tenant that the latter will take an 
interest in the farm and will find it profitable to farm properly. 
There must be team work. 


The landlord must be interested not only in his land but in his tenant. 
The tenant must be interested not only in himself but in his landlord and his 
land. A system that favors the tenant to the injury of the land is bad. 
A system that favors the land to the injury of the tenant is equally harmful. 
Either system will result in the poverty of both the landlord and the tenant. 1 


The fact remains, however, that home ownership contributes 
to the permanence, the stability, and the progress of a com¬ 
munity. It is also a fact that conditions have developed in 
our country, both in cities and in rural communities, which 
make home ownership increasingly difficult. In another chapter 
(Chapter XIV) we shall see what some of these conditions are, and 
what our government has done and may do to overcome them. 

One of the most important services performed for the com¬ 
munity by the home is that of training its members for citizen- 
The home a S ^P* T ^ e * am ily has been called “a school of all 
school of the virtues” that go to make good citizenship. It 

citizenship j g a sc bool in which not only the children, but also 
the parents, not only the boys and men, but also the girls and 
women, receive training by practice. In the home are de¬ 
veloped thoughtfulness for others, a spirit of self-sacrifice for 
the common good, loyalty to the group of which the individual 

1 Dr. Seaman A. Knapp, quoted by Dr. Thomas Jesse Jones in “Negroes and 
the Census of 1910,” p. 16. (Reprint from The Southern Workman for August, 1912.) 


WHY GOVERNMENT HELPS IN HOME MAKING 121 


is a member, respect for the opinions of others of long experience, 
a spirit of team work, obedience to rules which exist for the wel¬ 
fare of all. If these and other qualities of good citizenship 
are not cultivated in the home, it is not in a healthy condition 
nor performing its proper service to the community. 


Moreover, the exercise of these virtues in the home is not 
only training for good citizenship; it is good citizenship. If the 
home is as important a factor in our national life as this chapter 



Homes for Industrial Workers 
Pressed Steel Car Company, Pittsburgh, Pa. 


has indicated, then one of the greatest opportunities for good 
citizenship, and one of the greatest duties of good citizenship, 
is that of making the home what it should be; and in this each 
member of the family has his or her share. 

Make a study of farm tenancy in your locality (neighborhood, township, 
or county). 

How many of the farms of the locality are occupied and operated by their 
owners? how many by tenants? What is the percentage of tenancy? 

To what extent are the tenants men who were formerly farm laborers, 
but who by renting farms are making a start on their own account? Is this 
a sign of progress? 




122 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


What percentage of the tenants are white? negro? 

To what extent are the tenants foreigners who have recently come to the 
locality? 

Are the tenant farms usually rented for long periods or for short periods? 

What is the system of tenancy in your locality ( i.e . cash rental, working 
on shares, partnership with the owner, etc.)? If more than one exists, 
which seems to work best? Why? 

Is tenancy increasing or decreasing in your locality? What reasons are 
given for this? 

Does experience in your locality support the statement that tenant farmers 
are less likely than others to interest themselves in community progress? 

If you live, or go to school, in town, make a study of home ownership in 
the town. (If a small community, the class may study the entire area; if 
large, different sections may be studied by different groups of pupils.) How 
many homes are occupied by their owners? how many by tenants? What 
is the percentage of tenancy? Is tenancy increasing or decreasing? For 
what reasons? 

Is there some section of the community where most of the people own 
their homes, and another section where most of the people rent? If so, do 
you notice any difference in the general appearance of the two sections? 
Do you think that the difference, if any exists, is due in any part to the fact 
that some own and others rent their homes? 

Is there a tendency for the farmers of your locality to move into town? 
If so, why? What becomes of their farms? 

Review the points made in the discussion of topics 4 and 5 on page 38 
(Chapter III). Continue to develop plans for cooperation in the home and 
school. 

What does it mean to be “in training” for athletics? In the light of your 
answer to this question, what would it mean to be “in training” for citizen¬ 
ship? 

READINGS » 

See Readings for Chapter IX. Also: 

“Housing the Worker on the Farm,” Department of Agriculture Year Book, 
1918, pp. 347 - 356 . 

“What the Department of Agriculture is Doing for the Housekeeper,” Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture Year Book, 1913, pp. 143-162. 

“The Effect of Home Demonstration on the Community and the County,” De¬ 
partment of Agriculture Year Book, 1916, pp. 251-266. 

“Farm Tenantry in the United States,” Department of Agriculture Year Book, 
1926, pp. 699-706. 

“Farm Ownership and Tenancy,” Separate from Yearbook 1923, No. 897. U. S. 
Department of Agriculture. 


CHAPTER XI 


EARNING A LIVING 

The most conspicuous activities that ‘we see going on in the 
community are usually those that have to do with earning a 
living or the production of wealth. 1 Indeed, some Living not 
people become so absorbed in the business of earn- earning, the 
ing a living that they seem to be living to earn end m view 
rather than earning to live. It does not do to forget that not 
earning , but living , is the real end in view. Unless we know how 
to use what we earn to provide properly for all of our normal 
wants, the effort we spend in earning is very largely wasted. 

Nevertheless, before we can enjoy a living it has to be earned, 
by ourselves or by some one else; and the activities by which it 
is earned occupy so important a place in our lives, are so closely 
dependent upon the community, have so much to do with our 
citizenship, and receive so much attention from government, 
that we must give them some consideration in this chapter and 
several chapters following. 

While young people are spending most of their time at school 
or at piay, their fathers and other grown people are usually 


1 The activities by which we earn a living are also the activities by which wealth 
is produced. It is important to understand that when we speak of “wealth” 
we do not necessarily mean great wealth. A boy who has a fifty-cent knife, or a girl 
who has a twenty-five-cent purse, has wealth as truly as the man who owns a well- 
stocked farm. The difference is merely in kind and amount. Food, clothing, houses, 
books, tools, cattle, are all forms of wealth. Any material thing, for which we are 
willing to work and make sacrifices because it satisfies our wants, is wealth. Earning 
a living is merely earning or producing wealth to satisfy our wants and those of 
others. 


123 


124 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


chiefly occupied in the business of making a living or “ earning 
money.” 1 Children are, as a rule, wholly dependent upon their 
Importance parents for their living. But during their period 
of vocational of dependence they are gaining skill and experi- 
Ufe ence, in school and otherwise, that will later 

enable them to earn their own living and that of other people 
who may, in turn, become dependent upon them. 

As adult life approaches, there comes an increasing desire 
for independence of others, to have possessions, own property, 
or accumulate wealth. Our vocations , or occupations, by which 
we earn a livelihood, come to occupy a prominent place in our 
thought, and to a large extent control our activity. Doubtless 
most of those who read this chapter have begun to think more 
or less seriously about what they are going to do for a living. 
Some may be already doing so, in part, or helping to earn that 
of their families. Boys and girls who live on farms are especially 
likely to have a share in the work by which the family living is 
provided; but most boys and girls have more or less regularly 

1 Gold and silver and paper and wood are forms of wealth. Out of wood we 
make a yardstick or a peck measure with which to measure quantities of cloth or 
grain. In a similar manner, out of gold, silver, paper, and other materials, we make 
money, and for a similar reason, viz. to measure the value of wealth. When we 
speak of a fifty-cent knife and a twenty-five-cent purse, we measure the value of these 
articles. It would take thousands of dollars to measure the value of a well-stocked 
farm. 

When we say that a boy earns a dollar, or that a man earns $4.00 a day, we 
measure the value of his work or his service. If a man works for a farmer, he very 
likely receives his “board and lodging” in part payment for his services; he makes a 
direct exchange of his services for food and shelter. But he also probably receives in 
addition an amount of money, because with the money he can buy clothes and other 
things that the farmer cannot give. He takes the money and buys with it these 
other things that he needs to supply his wants. Thus money becomes something 
more than a measure of wealth or of services; it is also a means of exchanging wealth 
or services. 

These are the two uses of money. Money has value only because of what it 
represents in wealth, and wealth is useful because it enables us to satisfy wants. 
These things are mentioned because it is quite important that we should never 
forget that “ money ” and “ wealth ” are worth working for only because of the 
“ living,” or life, that they help us to attain. 


EARNING A LIVING 



125 

“earned money,” even if they have not considered it necessary 
for their living. An inquiry in a large, first-year high school 
class disclosed the fact that the girls of the class, quite as much 
as the boys, were thinking of their choice of vocation. More 
avenues are open to girls to-day than formerly by which to 
earn their living outside of the family; but even the manage¬ 
ment of a home is a business as truly as the management of a 
farm or factory, and is an exceedingly important factor in the 
earning of the family living. 


Helping to Earn the Family Living 

What part, if any, do you have in helping to earn the family living? 

What have you done during the past year to earn money ( a ) out of school 
hours on school days, ( b ) on Saturdays, (c) in vacation time? Tabulate the 
results for the entire class. 

What vocation would you like to follow for life? Why? 

If you have not decided upon some one vocation, name several that seem 
attractive to you. Why are they attractive? 

What do you know about the opportunities and the qualifications neces¬ 
sary for success in the vocations you have named ? How may you proceed 
to find out more about them? 

What vocations offer especial opportunities for girls and women to-day? 
How do these opportunities compare with those when your mothers were 
girls? 








126 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Make a list of the occupations of the fathers (or other members of the 
families) of the members of your class. 

Make a list of as many occupations in your community (town or county) 
as you can think of. 

Our dependence upon others for a living by no means ends 
with childhood. There is no such thing as an entirely “self- 
Dependence made man,” by which is meant a man who has been 
of the pioneer successful entirely by his own efforts. It is true 
that the primitive hunter and the pioneer farmer were inde¬ 
pendent of others to an unusual extent (see p. 14). But their 
living was a meager one, and they could not accumulate much 
wealth. The very land that a pioneer occupies, even though it 
is extensive and fertile, has little value as long as it is remote 
from centers of population (see p. 18). 

Even if a pioneer laid claim to a large tract of land, he could 
produce little wealth from it in crops if he could get no help to 
cultivate it, or if he had no improved machinery (made by 
others); and whatever he produced, he and his family could 
eat but little of the product. He could feed some to his few 
animals, and he would save some for seed; but anything that 
he raised above what he could actually use would have no value 
unless he could get it to other people who wanted it. If he 
could not sell what he produced, neither could he buy from 
others what they produced to satisfy other wants than that for 
food. So the kind of living a person enjoys, and the amount of 
wealth he accumulates, depend largely upon other people, and 
upon the community in which he lives. 

Under present-day conditions, a farmer who raises wheat 
probably uses none of it himself. He sells his entire crop for 
Dependence use ot ^ers, while to supply himself and his 

of the modern family with bread he goes to the store and buys 
flour that may have been milled in Minnesota from 
wheat raised by other farmers, perhaps in North Dakota or 
South Dakota. In exchange for his wheat he also gets clothing 


EARNING A LIVING 


127 


manufactured in New York or New England from cotton raised 
in Georgia or Texas, or from wool grown in Montana. He buys 
a wagon made in Indiana from lumber cut in the South and 
iron mined in Michigan and smelted in Ohio. Thus he earns 
his living by producing food for other people, while the things 
he uses in living are the product of labor expended by other 
people in the effort to earn their living. We noticed in Chapter 
II how many people and occupations were concerned in produc¬ 
ing a pair of shoes (p. 17). 



Picking Cotton to Clothe the World 


While the farmer or other worker may be interested primarily 
in providing for his own wants and those of his family, he can 
do this only by producing something or performing Earning by 
service for others; and while each worker may be service 
most concerned about what he receives for his work, the com¬ 
munity is most concerned about what he produces. Earning a 
living has two sides to it: rendering service to others and being 
paid for the service rendered. It is as if the community entered 
into a sort of agreement with the worker to the effect that it 



128 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


will provide him with a living in return for definite service to 
the community or for the product of his labor. What we call 
“business” is selling a service. It may be personal service, such 
as teaching, or prescribing medicine, or nursing, or giving legal 
advice, or cutting hair, or driving a team, or running an auto¬ 
mobile. Or it may be purchasing, storing, retailing, and deliver¬ 
ing things which have been produced perhaps many hundreds 
or thousands of miles away. Or it may be raising foodstuffs on 
the farm, or mining fuels and metals from the earth, or cutting 
timber from the forest. Or it may be manufacturing — buying 
materials and converting them into products serviceable to 
others. Whatever it is, every man’s business is also the com¬ 
munity’s business, and the community has a right to expect 
industry and honest, efficient work from every worker. 

Discuss the occupations named in answer to the two questions on page 
126, from the point of view of their service to the community. 

To what extent is your father’s business or occupation dependent upon 
the business or occupation of the fathers of other members of the class? 

Show how your father’s business is also the community’s business. 

What is the price of land in your neighborhood? Consult your father 
or friends in regard to the increase or decrease in price in recent years and 
in regard to the reasons for it. 

There are exceptional cases where people receive a living with¬ 
out earning it. One class of such people is represented by 
Living thieves, gamblers, swindlers, and persons engaged 

without in occupations that are positively harmful to the 
earning community. Such people may be very skillful 

and they may work hard enough, but they take what others 
have earned without producing anything of value to the 
community. 

Then there are those who are incapable of productive work 
because of physical defects, or through the feebleness of old 
age. It is the duty of every citizen to provide, as far as possible, 
during his productive years, for the “rainy day” of misfortune 


EARNING A LIVING 129 

or advancing age (see page 167). For those who cannot do so, 
the community must provide. 

Very young children are users of wealth produced by others. 
It is expected, however, that children will in later years make 
return to the community for what they have received during 
their period of dependence. 

Some people inherit wealth, or otherwise come into posses¬ 
sion of it without effort on their part. The wealth so received, 
however, has been earned by some one, or has come inherited 
from the community in some way. If the person wealth 
who so receives it uses it in a way that is highly useful to the 
community, he may in a sense earn it even after he receives it; 
but if he uses it solely for his own enjoyment, without effort to 
make it highly useful to the community, he does not in any 
sense earn it, and places himself in the class of those who are 
wholly dependent upon the community. 

On the other hand, there are people who do not get for their 
work a living that fairly compensates them for the service they 
render by it to the community. If our com- Unfair 
munity life were perfectly adjusted in all its parts ; compensation 
if all the people clearly recognized their common for service 
interests and their interdependence; if they had the spirit of 
cooperation and were wise enough to devise smoothly working 
machinery of cooperation; — then the returns that a worker 
received for his work would be closely proportionate to the serv¬ 
ice rendered by his work. That is, he would get what he earned , 
so far as wages or profits were concerned. But this is one of 
the particulars in which our community life is still imperfect. 
Where so many different kinds of workers are engaged in pro¬ 
ducing shoes, for example, it is extremely difficult to determine 
how much each should be paid for his share of the work. What 
wages should be given to the different classes of workers who 
care for cattle, make the leather, manufacture the machines 
with which the shoes are made, operate the machines, mine the 


130 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


coal and iron for the production of the machines, and so on? 
What profits shall be allowed to the men who raise the cattle, 
to the merchants who sell the shoes and the machines, and to 



2. The Cement Age. 



Courtesy A merican M agazine of A rt. 


3. Builders. 

Some Forms of Service 
Mural decorations in High School, Grand Rapids, Mich. 

the transportation companies that carry them from the fac¬ 
tories to the dealers? What interest shall be received by the 
men who furnish the capital necessary to run the factories and 












EARNING A LIVING 


131 

the farms? These questions relating to the distribution 0] 
wealth that men produce have proved very difficult to answer 
satisfactorily. 

A very useful and interesting, but rather difficult, science has grown up 
to explain the production , distribution, and use of wealth. It is called the 
science of economics. Of all the divisions of this science, that relating to 
the distribution of wealth is the most perplexing. It is the inequalities in the 
distribution of wealth, the sense of injustice produced by these inequalities, 
and sometimes a failure to understand what a fair distribution is, that have 
caused all the labor disputes referred to in Chapter VII (p. 71), and the 
discontent sometimes felt by farmers and other producers in regard to the 
prices of their products. 

Have you ever heard any one say, “The world owes me a living”? Is 
this a true statement? If so, in what sense do you think it is true? 

Which do you think is the truer statement: “I have a right to a living,” 
or “I have a right to earn a living”? Discuss the difference. 

A thief has been known to say, “I was brought into the world without 
my own consent; therefore the world owes me a living, and I owe the world 
nothing.” Is this good argument? Did the people upon whom he de¬ 
pends for a living have any more to say about their being brought into the 
world than he had? 

What things are you using to-day that were not provided for you by 
others ? 

If a stranger should come to your community to-day to live, what are 
some of the things that he would find already provided by the community 
for his use in making a living? 

Name five important inventions and state what they have done for you. 

Would you say that the world owed Thomas A. Edison and Luther 
Burbank a living? Why? 

How are you indebted for your living to the pioneers who settled your 
state? to Robert Fulton? to the men who built the first transcontinental 
railroad? 

Can you think of some way in which your family is indebted for its liv¬ 
ing to the British nation? to France? to ancient Greece? to the Phoeni¬ 
cians? to the people of Brazil? 

Which is the greater, the debt of your family to the world or the debt 
of the world to your family ? 

What is a “ parasite ” ? Could this term be appropriately applied to any 
of the people referred to in the last few paragraphs of the text above? 


132 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Each citizen has a right to feel that the government is in¬ 
terested in his individual prosperity and happiness; and it is’, 
Government ^ or unhappy and discontented citizens are seldom 
interested in good citizens. But the government represents 
production community as a whole, and has the interest of 

the community as a whole in its keeping rather than the in¬ 
terest of particular individuals. Its interest is primarily in 
what each citizen produces , for it is upon this that the strength 
of the nation depends. 

The “national A few days after war was declared against Ger- 
army ” of many, the President made an appeal to his fellow 
producers countrymen, in which he said: 

It is evident to every thinking man that our industries on the farms, in 
the shipyards, in the mines, in the factories, must be made more prolific 
and more efficient than ever and that they must be more economically 
managed and better adapted to the particular requirements of our task than 
they have been; and what I want to say is that the men and women who 
devote their thought and their energy to these things will be serving the 
country and conducting the fight for peace and freedom just as truly and 
just as effectively as the men on the battlefield or in the trenches. The 
industrial forces of the country, men and women alike, will be a great 
national, a great international Service Army, — a notable and honored host 
engaged in the service of the nation and the world. . . . Thousands, nay, 
hundreds of thousands, of men otherwise liable to military service will of 
right and necessity be excused from that service and assigned to the funda¬ 
mental, sustaining work of the fields and factories and mines, and they will 
be as much part of the great patriotic forces of the nation as the men under 
fire. 

He then appealed directly to every kind of worker in the 
country, and to the farmers he said: 


The supreme need of our own nation and of the nations with which we 
are cooperating is an abundance of supplies, and especially of foodstuffs. 
. . . Without abundant food . . . the whole great enterprise upon which 
we have embarked will break down and fail. . . . Upon the farmers of this 
country, therefore, in large measure, rests the fate of the war and the fate 
of nations. Let me suggest, also, that every one who creates or cultivates 


EARNING A LIVING 


133 


a garden helps, and helps greatly, to solve the problem of the feeding of 
the nations; and that every housewife who practices strict economy puts 
herself in the ranks of those who serve the nation. 

The nation needs the productive work of each citizen in time 
of peace as truly as in time of war, although when it is not 
fighting for its very life it is more tolerant of those who do not 
contribute efficiently by their work to the common good. It 
carries them along somehow. But such members of the com¬ 
munity are a burden and a source of weakness at all times. 
Therefore, for example, there are in most of our communities laws 
against vagrancy; that is, against willful and habitual idlers 
“ without visible means of support,” such as beggars and tramps. 

There are times when many men are “out of work.” In 
times of business depression the number may become very 
great, while in prosperous times the number Problem of 
dwindles; but always there are some. It is often the unem- 
through no fault of their own; it is another result ployed 
of the imperfect adjustment of our community life. It often 
happens that while large numbers of men are unable to find work 
in industrial centers, the farmers may be suffering for want of 
help. This may be merely because there is no way by which 
to let workmen know where they are needed, or of distributing 
them to meet the need. Or, many of the unemployed may be 
unskilled, while the demand is for skilled workmen; or they 
may be skilled in one line, while the demand is in another line. 
Whatever the causes, the “problem of the unemployed” is one 
of the most serious that the community has to deal with. Dur¬ 
ing the war the national government sought to overcome these 
difficulties by the organization of an employment service in the 
Department of Labor, and state and local communities estab¬ 
lished employment bureaus. 

Who have been some of the builders of your own community by reason 
of their business life? Explain. 

So far as you have observed, what boys have been most successful after 


134 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


leaving school — those who make it a practice to do all they can for their 
employers, or those who have tried to do the least possible ? 

Is it true in your community that the most useful citizens are those who care 
more about the excellence of their work than about what they receive for it? 

Are there many vagrants in your community? Are there laws against 
vagrancy? If so, what are they? 

Are there often many men out of work in your community ? If so, why 
is it? 

Is it ever difficult to get farm labor in your locality? If so, how do the 
farmers explain it? 

What experience have the farmers of your locality had during and since 
the war in getting labor when it was needed? Did the government help 
them at that time? How? 

It is of the greatest importance both to the individual and to 
the community that every citizen (i) should be continuously 
employed in a useful occupation, (2) should be free and able 
to choose the occupation for which he is best fitted, and in 
which he will be happiest, and (3) should be thoroughly efficient 
in his work, whatever it is. 

(1) The community has a right to expect every citizen to be 
industrious and productive, for only in this way can he be 
self-sustaining and at the same time contribute his 

The right of . _ 

the com- share to the well-being of the community. Doubt- 

munity to less a n w h 0 re ad this chapter are desirous of doing 

industry . . _ . . . . . 

useful work. At the same time, it is easy for any 
of us to fall into the habit of thinking more about what we 
can get than about what we can give. There are people who 
habitually seek to do as little as possible for what they receive, 
or to get all they can for the least possible service. This ap¬ 
plies not only to idlers who live entirely off the community 
without any service on their part, but also to those who have 
employment, but who seek to evade, by “time-serving” and 
otherwise “slacking,” the full responsibility of service. We 
sometimes hear complaint in regard to public officials who draw 
good salaries without rendering adequate or honest public 
service in return, and to such we frequently apply the term of 


EARNING A LIVING 


135 


“grafter” But the principle is exactly the same when any 
person who has undertaken to do a piece of work fritters away 
his time or “loafs on the job.” 

After all, the chief return that we get for our work is not the 
wages or the profits, important as they are to us, but the satis¬ 
faction of doing something that is worth while, satisfaction 
If this pleasure is absent from the work we do, no ^ service 
amount of money returns can compensate us for it. The happy 
man is a busy man, an industrious man; and his happiness is 
more in the doing than in the mere fact of money returns. 

(2) The value of our work to the community and the pleasure 
that we derive from it both depend to a large extent upon our 
fitness for it. It is important to choose our work i mportance 
carefully. There are four important considera- of a right 
tions in choosing a vocation : ( a ) its usefulness to choice 
the community, ( b ) one’s own fitness for it, (c) one’s happiness 
in it, and ( d ) whether it offers an adequate living to one’s self 
and dependents. The last of these is, of course, a most impor¬ 
tant consideration. What a person receives for his work ought 
to be determined by the first two considerations, i.e. the use¬ 
fulness of the work to the community and one’s fitness for it. 
We have seen that this is not always true. In such cases it 
often becomes necessary to make a further choice — a choice 
between working primarily for one’s own profit and working 
primarily for the satisfaction that comes from important service 
well rendered. It is not always easy to make this choice; but 
there are many people who have sacrificed large incomes for 
the sake of doing work that the community needs and for which 
they consider themselves well fitted. 

Many people seem to have little choice in the matter of voca¬ 
tion. The farmer’s boy has to work on the farm A choice of 
whether he wants to or not; and many a man is a vocation is 
farmer apparently for no other reason than that mevitable 
he was raised on the farm and has seen no opportunity to do 


i 3 6 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


anything else. Other people seem to be forced into other occu¬ 
pations by circumstances or drift into them by chance. But even 
in these cases there is something of a choice. The farmer’s boy 
“ chooses ” to remain on the farm rather than to take the chances 
involved in running away, or because he would rather be at home 
than in a strange city. The discontented farmer might have cho¬ 
sen to be a lawyer if he had been willing to make enough sacrifices 
to get ready for it; and even now he “ chooses ” to remain on the 
farm in spite of his dislike for it because to do otherwise would 
mean sacrifice of some kind or other that he is unwilling to make. 

The pleasure and effectiveness of any work, however, are 
increased if its importance to the community or to the world 
Th is clearly understood; for all productive work is 

of outwork* S important. There is no more terrible work than 
to the that of the soldier in the trenches. No man would 

voluntarily choose it for his own pleasure. But 
millions of men have gone into it joyfully because of the results 
to be attained for their country and the world. Other millions 
of men and women, and even children, on the farms, in the mines, 
in the shops, and in the homes, worked and sacrificed during 
the war with Germany as they had never worked and sacrificed 
before, produced results such as had never been produced before, 
and doubtless experienced a satisfaction in their toil that they had 
never experienced before, because each one saw more definitely 
than before the relation of his work to the great national and 
world purpose. An understanding of the meaning of our work in 
its relation to community welfare goes a long way toward “ trans¬ 
muting days of dreary work into happier lives” (see p. 9). 

The opportunity to choose one’s calling, to decide what 
service one will fit himself for, the right of “self-determination” 
Freedom with re £ ar d to what one’s work shall be — this is 

equality, what “freedom” means. This is why men are 

and justice happier when they are free. The “equality” and 
“justice” that all men want mean equality of opportunity to 


EARNING A LIVING 









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From “The Money Value of an Education,” Bulletin, 1917, No. 22, U. S. Bureau of Education. 






I3» 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


choose that which they like to do, and an equal chance to make a 
living , or to obtain compensation for their labor or enterprise. 
It is for these things more than for anything else that people 
have left old-world conditions and come to America. The 
ability to make a living under conditions of freedom and justice 
depends in part upon the common wants of the community, 
and upon the willingness of members of the community to pay 
for the satisfaction of their wants enough to enable those who 
perform service for them also to satisfy theirs. But it also 
depends upon the ability of the individual to make a choice, 
and upon his willingness to spend years in preparation, if need 
be, to enable him to offer a service of the kind he likes to render, 
and for which others are glad to pay well. « 

We are living in a day of specialists. The very nature of our 
interdependent life makes it necessary for each worker to do 
A day of one thing and to do it exceedingly well. Even 

specialists farming is broken up to a considerable extent into 
special kinds of farming. Moreover, since the worker must be 
a specialist, requiring long, special training, it is more difficult 
than it used to be for him to change from one occupation to 
another after he has once started. Each person, therefore, 
owes it both to himself and to the community to choose his 
vocation carefully, so far as he has opportunity to make a choice. 
The schools are more and more making it their business to give 
boys and girls the knowledge and the experience that will enable 
them to choose wisely their mode of earning a living. 

(3) Whether a citizen follows a vocation of his own voluntary 
choice, or one into which he has fallen by chance or by force of 
The necessity circumstances, he is under obligation to the com- 
for training munity as well as to himself to do his work well. 
In these days of specialization this inevitably means prepara¬ 
tion, training. If the community expects the citizen to perform 
efficient service, it must afford him a fair opportunity for 
preparation. During the war the government made special 


EARNING A LIVING 


139 


provision for training, not only for military service, but also 
for the industrial occupations that the nation needed. Voca¬ 
tional training is now receiving great attention from the schools 
and from government. 

As in the choice of a vocation, so in preparation for it the 
individual has his share of responsibility. It is always a tempta¬ 
tion for young people to get out into the active work Hasty en _ 
of the world at the earliest possible moment. The trance upon 
desire to be independent, to earn one’s own living, vocational Ufe 
to “make money,” is strong. It leads many boys and girls to 
leave school even before they have finished their elementary 
education. In the great majority of cases this results in serious 
economic loss both to the boy or girl and to the community. 
The charts on page 137 furnish evidence of this. 

We call it patriotism when a man gives all that he has, even 
his life if necessary, for the good of his country, without stopping 
to consider whether or not he will receive an equal Patriotism in 
benefit in return. There is no higher type of vocational life 
patriotism than that which prompts a citizen to perform his 
best service for the community in his daily calling, not for what 
he can get for it, but for what he can give. This patriotism is 
shared by the young citizen who is willing to defer an apparent 
immediate gain to himself in order to prepare himself thoroughly 
for more effective service later. 

If your father had his life to live over again, would he choose the same 
vocation that he is now following? Consult him as to his reasons. 

What special kinds of farming exist in your locality? Is there a tendency 
in your community toward specialization in farming, or toward general 
farming? Reasons? 

To what extent is “scientific farming” practiced in your locality? What 
does it mean? 

Make a study of the extent to which specialization is necessary in the 
industries of your town. 

Does your school offer any vocational training or vocational guidance? 

Is there a tendency in your school for boys and girls to quit before com¬ 
pleting the course? At what grades do pupils begin to drop out in con- 


140 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


siderable numbers? Why do they leave? What sort of work do they 
do when they leave school ? 

At what ages does the law in your state permit boys and girls to go to 
work? Show how this restriction of freedom now increases freedom later 
on (see pp. 137, 139). 


READINGS 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series A: Lesson 3, The cooperation of specialists in modern society. 

Lesson 5, The human resources of a community. 

Lesson 7, Organization. 

Lesson 8, The rise of machine industry. 

Lesson 9, Social control. 

Lesson 10, Indirect costs. 

Lesson n. Education as encouraged by industry. 

Lesson 23, The services of money. 

Lesson 28, The worker in our society. 

Series B : Lesson 8, Finding a job. 

Lesson n, The work of women. 

Lesson 28, Women in industry. 

Series C: Lesson 9, Inventions. 

Lesson n, The effects of machinery on rural life. 

Lesson 21, Before coins were made. 

Lesson 22, The minting of coins. 

Lesson 23, Paper money. 

Lesson 24, Money in the community and the home. 

Lesson 29, Child labor. 

Tufts, The Real Business of Living, chaps, viii-x; xv-xxviii. 

The following books relating to vocational life may be helpful and stimulating: 
Gowin and Wheatley, Occupations (Ginn & Co.). 

Giles, Vocational Civics (Macmillan). 

Gulick, The Efficient Life (Doubleday, Page & Co.). 

Reid and others, Careers for the Coming Men (Saalfield Pub. Co., Akron, Ohio). 
Marden, Choosing a Career (Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis). 

Marden, Talks with Great Workers (Thos. Y. Crowell). 

Bok, Successward (Doubleday, Page & Co.). 

Williams, How It Is Made, How It Is Done, How It Works (Thos. Nelson & Sons). 
Fowler, Starting in Life (Little, Brown & Co.). 

Parsons, Choosing a Vocation (Houghton M ifflin Co.). 

Carnegie, The Empire of Business (Doubleday, Page & Co.). 

Bibliography on Vocational Guidance, Vocational Education Bulletin 66 (1926), 
Government Printing Office, 15 cents. 

Helping the Youth to Choose a Vocation. U. S. Bureau of Labor Bulletin No. 
414 (1926). 


CHAPTER XII 


GOVERNMENT AS A MEANS OF COOPERATION IN 
AGRICULTURE 

According to the census of 1920, somewhat more than 41 
million of the 105 million people of our country at that time were 
engaged in “gainful occupations”; that is, in Gainful occu _ 
earning their living and that of the remaining pations in the 
64 million people who were dependent upon them. Umted States 
Of the 41 million, more than 13^ million were producing wealth 
directly from the land, in agriculture, forest industries, mining 
industries, and fishing. About 13 million were engaged in 
manufacturing and mechanical trades, by which the materials 
extracted from the land are transformed into articles of use. 
The remainder of the “ breadwinners ” were engaged in trade 
and transportation, and in professional, personal, and public 
service. 

Of the 13^ million people gaining their living directly from 
the land, more than 11 million were engaged in agricultural 
pursuits. At the present time (1928) probably importance of 
one half of the population, including women and agriculture 
children, is directly dependent upon agriculture as a means of 
livelihood, while the other half, as well, is dependent upon 
it for food supply and the materials for clothing. 

In view of the fact that agriculture is the source of the 
nation’s food supply and of a large part of the national wealth, 
and that so large a part of the people are engaged in it as a 
means of livelihood, it is not surprising to find our government 
deeply interested in it and performing a vast amount of service 
for its promotion, 


142 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 



The government of every state in the Union has an organi¬ 
zation to protect and promote the farming industry and the 
State depart- welfare of the farmer. This organization differs 
ments of in its form and in the extent of service performed 

agriculture * n ^ severa j states, due partly to the varying 
importance of agriculture in the different states, and partly to 
the varying success with which the people and their represen¬ 
tatives have dealt with the problem. In some of the states 


Agricultural Building, University of Illinois 

there are departments of agriculture, equal in dignity and 
power with the other main divisions of the government. In 
others agricultural interests are placed in the hands of sub¬ 
ordinate boards, bureaus, or commissions. In some cases the 
officials in charge of the organization, such as the commissioner 
of agriculture, are elected directly by the people, while in others 
they are appointed by the governor of the state or by the legis¬ 
lature. Often the department is organized in numerous branches 
with specialists at the head of each. Thus, there are dairy 
commissioners, horticultural boards, livestock sanitary boards, 










GOVERNMENT AS A MEANS OF COOPERATION 143 



foresters, entomologists (specialists in insect life in its relation 
to agriculture), and others, to look after every aspect of farming. 
In a constantly decreasing number of states the powers of the 
agricultural officers are slight and their work ineffectual; but 
in others the organization is thorough and the work efficiently 
done and of the greatest value to the state. 


Experimental Farm, Agricultural College, Michigan 

In general, state departments of agriculture have had two 
kinds of duties: first, regulative and administrative duties, 
such as the enforcement of laws relating to agri- Dutieg of 
culture passed by the state legislature, enforcing sta te depart- 
quarantine against diseased animals, establishing 
standards for the grading of grain, making and 
enforcing rules for the control of animal and plant diseases, 
and similar matters. Second, investigative and educational 
duties, such as the investigation of animal and plant diseases, 
crop conditions, and other agricultural problems; and the dis¬ 
tribution of information to the farmers and to the people of 
the state generally, relating to agricultural matters. Reports 













144 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


and bulletins on special subjects are published and farmers’ 
institutes are conducted. 

The practice is growing, however, to transfer the work of 
investigation and education to the state agricultural colleges 
A ' uitur l an d ex P er ^ ment stations which have been estab- 
colleges and lished and are conducted with the cooperation of 
experiment the national Department of Agriculture (see pp. 

147, 148). These institutions have a corps of 
highly trained specialists and educators and are equipped with 
laboratories and experimental farms where research may be 
carried on under the most favorable conditions. The agri¬ 
cultural colleges not only educate young men and women 
within their walls in agriculture and related subjects, but 
carry on extension work throughout the state for the benefit 
of the farmers and the people of rural communities. With 
the development of these institutions the state department 
of agriculture is left with almost purely administrative and 
regulative duties. This seems to be the wiser plan of or¬ 
ganization. 

Write to your state commissioner of agriculture or to the secretary of 
your state board of agriculture for a copy of the law, or other published 
document, containing a description of the organization of your state depart¬ 
ment of agriculture and its work. Also ask for, if available, a list of publica¬ 
tions issued by the department, from which you may later select such as may 
seem to be useful. 

Write to your state agricultural college, or to the experiment station, for 
its latest report showing the work that it has done, and for a list of available 
publications. 

(In writing to public officials for materials for class use, it is well to send 
but one letter for the class or school, and to request the smallest number of 
copies that will serve the purposes of the class. Public officials are busy 
people, and the publications for which you ask cost the people of the com¬ 
munity money. 

The members of the class may compete, if desired, in formulating a suit¬ 
able letter, and a class committee may select the best, or formulate one on 
the basis of suggestions from the class. 


GOVERNMENT AS A MEANS OF COOPERATION 145 



Materials collected in this way should become school property, and the 
class should be conscious that it is accumulating a library for later classes 
as well as for themselves.) 

Study and report on the following: 

The organization of your state department of agriculture: its officers 
and how chosen; its divisions and their work. 

The work done at your state experiment station (individual reports may 
be made on the several important lines of work, or on particular investiga¬ 
tions or discoveries of interest). 

The character of the extension courses offered by your state agricultural 
college. Courses given in your own community. 


Farmers’ Convention Hall, University of Tennessee 

Instances of regulative work done in your state and county by your 
state department of agriculture. 

Instances in which your county or locality has been served by your state 
agricultural college or by the experiment station. 

The difficulty of the farmer in coping with animal disease or plant disease 
by his own effort. 

Facts to show that money has been saved to your community by the 
state agricultural department or experiment station. 

Why the people of the cities of your state should pay taxes to support 
the department of agriculture. 

Facts to show that your state department of agriculture and your experi¬ 
ment station are really “means of cooperation” in your state and county. 





146 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Extent to which the farmers of your locality actually cooperate through 
the governmental machinery of the department of agriculture. 

Consult your parents or farmer friends as to ways in which the work of 
your state department of agriculture, agricultural college, or experiment 
station should be extended. 

Sentiment among the people of your locality, especially the farmers, as to 
the usefulness of your department of agriculture, experiment station and 
agricultural college. 

Get information from your county agent, or from your state agricultural 
college, as to the states having the best organized departments of agriculture, 
and then get information as to their points of excellence. 

The advantage of a state fair (a) to the farmer, ( b) to the state. The 
fair as a means of cooperation. 

The management of your county fair (if any). 


It does one state very little good to fight hog cholera or the 
boll weevil unless neighboring states do likewise. Inferior 
Agriculture service in one state by its department of agriculture 
a national is a detriment not only to the farmers of that state, 

enterprise ^ u t to those of other states and of the country as a 
whole. States gradually learn from one another and frequently 
adopt from one another the best methods that are developed. 
This is a slow process. The agriculture of our nation must be 
considered as a great national enterprise, and not as forty-eight 
separate enterprises. This was made evident during the recent 
war. Hence the necessity for national control. 

Washington and Jefferson, like other founders of our nation, 
took the keenest interest in agriculture. But in the early 
Early national y ears of our history little was done by the national 
support of government for its promotion, except by a rather 
agriculture generous policy of disposing of the public lands 
(see Chapter XIV). In 1820 a committee on agriculture was 
for the first time created in the House of Representatives, 
and in 1825 a similar committee in the Senate. In 1839 Con¬ 
gress made its first appropriation for agricultural purposes, 
$1000, to be spent in gathering information about crops and 
other agricultural matters. This was a small beginning when 


GOVERNMENT AS A MEANS OF COOPERATION 147 


compared with the $44,000,000 appropriated by Congress for 
agricultural purposes in 1925. 

The United States Department of Agriculture was created 
by Congress in 1862, though it was not placed on an equality 
with the other executive departments of the Creationof 
national government, with a member of the Department 
President’s cabinet at its head, until 1889. While of A s riculture 
it has some very important regulatoiy powers, that is, powers 
to enforce laws and otherwise to control the practice of the 



Group of Buildings, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
Washington, D.C. 


people, its service has been largely by way of scientific investi¬ 
gation of the problems of agriculture and the distribution of 
the information so acquired. Its policy has been one of co¬ 
operation with state authorities. 

In 1862 Congress gave to the several states portions of the 
public lands, the proceeds from which were to be used for the 
establishment and support of the agricultural National 
colleges of which mention has been made. Again, cooperation 
in 1887, Congress made appropriations for the J tat h e * he 
establishment of the agricultural experiment 
stations, which are conducted cooperatively by the state and 
national governments. In 1914 the Smith-Lever Act was 
passed by Congress, making appropriations for agricultural 






148 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


extension work to be conducted by the state agricultural colleges 
with the cooperation of the Department of Agriculture. By 
the terms of this act each state must appropriate a sum of 
money for the extension work equal to that received from the 
national government. 

The Office of Cooperative Extension work of the Department 
of Agriculture supervises and administers these relations with 
the states under the terms of the Smith-Lever Act. In each 



U. S. Government Experimental Farm, Beltsville, Md. 


state there is a director of extension work who represents both 
the United States Department of Agriculture and the state 
agricultural college. Under him there is usually a state agent 
or leader, district agents, county agents, and specialists of 
various kinds. The county agents conduct agricultural demon¬ 
stration work in their counties and assist in organizing rural 
communities for cooperation. Women county agents, or home 
demonstration agents, are rapidly being installed also, to con¬ 
duct extension work in home economics and organize cooperation 
among the women. 

In the Southern States during 1915 about 110,000 farmers carried out 
demonstration work under the supervision of county agents. Each such 
farm demonstration serves as an object lesson for the entire community. 





GOVERNMENT AS A MEANS OF COOPERATION 149 


ORGANIZATION OF COOPERATIVE 
EXTENSION WORK 
RELATIONSHIP OF FEDERAL AND 
STATE AGENCIES 



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COMMUNITY CIVICS 


150 

These demonstrations included corn raising in 446,000 acres, cotton in 
202,000 acres, tobacco in 2630 acres, small grains in 196,000 acres, and many- 
other products in hundreds of thousands of acres. Stumps were removed 
from more than 70,000 acres, 220,000 acres were drained, and there were 
29,000 demonstrations in home gardens. Sixty-four thousand improved 
implements were bought. Work was done with orchards involving more than 
2,000,000 trees, 29,000 farmers were instructed in the care of manure with an 
estimated saving of more than 3,000,000 tons. Farmers in 678 cooperative 
community organizations were advised with regard to the purchase of ferti¬ 
lizers with a saving in cost of $125,000. One thousand six hundred fifty- 
four community organizations were formed to study local problems and to 
meet local business needs. Nearly 63,000 boys were enrolled in corn clubs. 

There were also in the Southern States 368 counties with home demon¬ 
stration agents, who gave instruction to 32,613 girls and 6871 women. 
Each of the girls produced a one tenth acre home garden of tomatoes and 
other vegetables. They put up more than 2,000,000 cans of fruit and 
vegetables worth $300,000. There were nearly 10,000 members in poultry 
clubs and 3000 in bread clubs. Two hundred fifty women’s community 
clubs were formed. 

Similar work was done in the Northern States, where 209,000 boys and 
girls were enrolled in club work. Nearly 25,000 of these were engaged in 
profit-making enterprises in which they produced food worth more than 
$500,000. Reports from 3155 homes show 546,515 quarts of fruits and 
vegetables canned, about half of which consisted of vegetables, windfall 
apples, and other products that frequently go to waste. 

How much money does your state receive from the national treasury 
under the terms of the Smith-Lever Act? (Discuss at home, consult your 
county agent.) 

Find out from your county agent, and from your home demonstration 
agent (if there is one), what their work includes and how it is done. Invite 
them to speak to your school on the subject. 

What demonstration work is being carried on in your county for men 
and women? Results achieved? 

With the help of your county agent, make a map of your county showing 
the distribution of his demonstration work. 

Report on boys’ and girls’ club work in your county. Describe partic¬ 
ularly any such work in which you are engaged. 

What are some of the problems in regard to which the farmers of your 
community need help? 

Make a report on George Washington the Farmer; on Thomas Jef¬ 
ferson’s contributions to agriculture. 


GOVERNMENT AS A MEANS OF COOPERATION 151 


The Bureau of Agricultural Economics promotes the organi¬ 
zation of rural communities for cooperation in buying and sell¬ 
ing, in obtaining rural credits and insurance (see Chapter XIII), 
in developing means of communication (Chapter XVIII), and in 
providing for social needs. It investigates markets and methods 
of marketing, and transportation and storage facilities. It seeks 



County Agent Inspecting Field of Alfalfa. 


to establish standards for grading and packing fruits, vegetables, 
and other products. In another field of its service this Bureau 
gathers and publishes data regarding agriculture, and par¬ 
ticularly estimates relating to crop and livestock production. 
It investigates and promotes the application of business methods 
to farm management and farm practice. It studies the cost 
and profitableness of producing particular crops, livestock, and 
dairy products, the profitable use of the woodlot, the most 
economic and effective farm equipment. It investigates the 




152 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 



cost of the farmer’s living, methods of keeping accounts, the 
methods and results of tenantry. 

The Bureau of Animal Industry investigates the causes, preven¬ 
tion, and treatment of diseases of domestic animals, and has 
done much to eradicate them. It studies methods of dairying 
and dairy manufacturing, of breeding and feeding livestock, of 
producing wool and other animal fibers, of poultry raising. It 


County Agent Giving Club Boys a Demonstration in Treat¬ 
ing Seed Potatoes eor Scab 

cooperates with the States Relations Service and the state 
agricultural colleges in educational work, conducting livestock 
demonstration work and advising with regard to the establish¬ 
ment and management of creameries and cheese factories. It 
promotes the organization of pig clubs to stimulate interest in 
swine production. 

The Bureau of Plant Industry investigates the causes, pre¬ 
vention, and treatment of plant diseases, including those of 
fruit, shade, and forest trees. It has introduced over 43,000 
varieties of foreign seeds and plants, from which many new 
industries have grown up amounting in value to many millions 






































GOVERNMENT AS A MEANS OF COOPERATION 153 

of dollars each year. Its explorers have brought new varieties 
of cereals from Russia and Siberia; alfalfas from Siberia; date 
palms from North Africa, Arabia, and Persia; the pistache nut 
from Greece and Sicily; vanilla and peaches from Mexico; 
barleys and hops from Europe; rices and matting rushes from 
Japan; forage grasses from India; tropical fruits from South 
America. It experiments in the breeding of hardy and disease- 
resisting grains, fruits, and vegetables, studies soil fertility, 
investigates the medicinal qualities of plants, tests seeds, and 
improves agricultural implements. Its experiments are con¬ 
ducted in experimental gardens in Washington, D. C., at Arling¬ 
ton, Va., and at the experiment stations distributed widely over 
the United States. 

This bureau does much educational work, instructing 
farmers how to control plant diseases and how to organize 
for cooperation in the breeding of disease-resisting plants, 
and conducting demonstrations on reclaimed lands in arid 
regions. During 1916 it distributed, through members of 
Congress, 356,000 tulip and narcissus bulbs, 96,000 strawberry 
plants of 15 varieties, 14,000 packages of lawn grass seed, 
and more than 16,000,000 packages of vegetable and flower 
seeds. 

The Bureau of Chemistry studies the influence of environment 
on crops and plants; investigates the quality of mill products, 
the methods of bread making, of tanning leather, and of paper 
making. It tests the food values of all kinds of products, the 
keeping quality of poultry, eggs, and fish in the course of trans¬ 
portation, and the composition of drugs. It is called upon 
by other departments of government to make chemical analysis 
of many articles. 

The Bureau of Soils investigates the quality of soils and their 
adaptation to different kinds of crops, and the fertilizer re¬ 
sources of the country. 

The Bureau of Entomology is concerned with the study of in- 


154 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


sects and their relation to agriculture, including those that are 
destructive to fruit, shade, and forest trees. Its work includes 
the study and promotion of bee culture. It has carried on a 
campaign for the eradication of such diseases as spotted fever, 
malaria, and typhoid which are carried by ticks, mosquitoes, 
flies, and other insects (see Chapter XX). 

The Bureau of Biological Survey maintains game, mammal, and 
bird reservations, including among others the Montana National 


* 



County Agent Explaining Points in Dairy Cattle Judging 


Bison Range, the winter elk refuge in Wyoming, the Sully^s 
Hill National Game Preserve in South Dakota, and the Aleutian 
Islands Reservation in Alaska. It studies the food habits of 
North American birds and mammals in relation to agriculture, 
horticulture, and forestry, and the habits, geographical dis¬ 
tribution, and migrations of animals and plants. It conducts 
experiments and demonstrations in destroying animals harmful 
to agriculture and animal husbandry and in connection with 
rearing fur-bearing animals. It cooperates with local authorities 
in the protection of migratory birds. 



GOVERNMENT AS A MEANS OF COOPERATION 155 



The Weather Bureau is in charge of the forecasting of the 
weather, the issuing of storm warnings, the display of weather 
and flood signals for the benefit of commerce, agriculture, and 
navigation (see Chapter XVI). 

The Forest Service has in its keeping the great national forests 
(see Chapter XV), the preservation of timber, and the pro¬ 
motion of forestry in the whole United States. 


A Demonstration of Baking to Club Members 

The Bureau of Public Roads and Rural Engineering administers 
the work of the federal government for road improvement, and 
studies farm engineering problems such as those relating to 
sanitation and water supply (see Chapters XVII and XX). 

The Department of Agriculture has certain Regulatory 
important powers of regulation and control. ^Depart- 
Animals are inspected at market centers to dis- ment of 
cover the presence of disease, and localities in- Agriculture 
fected are quarantined. 




COMMUNITY CIVICS 


156 

In 1915 more than 15 million sheep were inspected and nearly 4 million 
dipped to cure scabies. As a result nearly one and one half million square 
miles of land were released from quarantine. In the same year more than a 
million square miles were released from quarantine against scabies in cattle. 

In quarantining a state, or portion of a state, the Department 
acts by authority of laws passed by Congress under its power to 
regulate interstate and foreign commerce (Constitution, Art. I, 
sec. 8, cl. 3). By the same authority, all cattle for export and 
all imported from foreign countries are inspected and those 
diseased excluded. Slaughter houses and meat-packing es¬ 
tablishments where meat is packed for interstate or foreign 
commerce are inspected; meat that is unfit for use being 
condemned, while that which is good has the government 
stamp placed upon it. Such measures are primarily health 
measures (see Chapter XX), but they have great economic 
value. 

In a similar manner imported seeds, plants, and plant products 
are inspected to prevent the importation of plant diseases and 
plant pests, and also to prevent adulteration of plant products. 
Warehouses are inspected and licenses granted to those that are 
suitable for the proper storage of cotton, grains, tobacco, flax¬ 
seed, and wool. The Department enforces the laws that fix the 
standards for grading cotton and grain, and licenses grain 
inspectors. It also enforces the Food and Drugs Act (see 
Chapter XX). 

Topics for investigation: 

Difficulties experienced by farmers in your locality in marketing produce 
or livestock. 

Assistance received from the United States Department of Agriculture 
to overcome the difficulties. 

Experiments in cooperative marketing in your locality. 

Products of your locality that require storage facilities. Adequacy of 
storage facilities. 

Transportation needs of your locality. Improvements in transportation 
facilities in recent years. 


GOVERNMENT AS A MEANS OF COOPERATION 157 

Consult your county agent, or write to the Bureau of Agricultural Eco¬ 
nomics, for publications relating to farm management, farm accounting, etc. 

Discuss with farmers of your acquaintance the extent to which they 
find farm accounts and farm records useful. 

Diseases of livestock prevalent in your locality and state. Experiments 
in cooperation to eradicate these diseases. Assistance received from the 
Department of Agriculture. 



Explorers of the United States Department of Agriculture 
in Central Asia 




COMMUNITY CIVICS 


158 


Crops of foreign origin raised in your locality. Countries from which 
introduced. 

Destructive plant diseases and plant pests of your locality. Efforts to 
combat them. 

Importance of bird migrations to the farmers of your locality. Extent 
of protection afforded birds. How you cooperate in this matter. 

Importance of these various farmers’ problems to the people in 
town — the housekeeper, the merchant, the manufacturer, the railroad 
companies. 

Cases of animal quarantine occurring in your locality. 

Why warehouses for food products, cotton, etc., should be licensed. 
What “licensing” means. 

How grain, cotton, or other products are “graded.” The reason for 
grading. Why there needs to be a law on the subject. 


While the business interests of the farmer, and indeed many 
of his other interests, such as health, education, and social life, 
. f are especially looked after by the Department of 
other depart- Agriculture, he shares with all other citizens the 
ments of services of all the other departments of govern¬ 
ment, each of which also has its elaborate organi¬ 
zation (see Chapter XXVII). It is the Treasury Department, 
for example, acting under authority given to it by Congress, 
that provides the people with their system of money and 
with a banking system, both of which are great coopera¬ 
tive devices. The Department of Commerce serves the 
farmer directly by discovering markets for his products in every 
part of the world, and indirectly by everything it does to promote 
the country’s commerce. The rural mail delivery, the parcel 
post, and the motor truck service of the Post Office Department 
are of untold value to the farmer (see Chapter XVIII). The 
Department of the Interior has supervision over the public 
lands, the reclamation of arid lands, and the development of 
mineral resources (Chapters XIV, XV). 

The question The question of labor supply is one of the most 
of labor serious questions which the farmer has to face. It 
supply i s one that he must help to solve for himself: 




GOVERNMENT AS A MEANS OF COOPERATION 159 

As soon as work on the farms is organized, and employment is made 
steady for all help, just so soon will a better class of laborers be attracted 
to the farm. As the farm-owner wishes life to be free from eternal 
drudgery for himself and family, yielding the fruits of happiness, leisure, 
and culture, he would do well to consent and arrange to give the farm hand 
who shares the shelter of his roof a fair chance at the same benefits. The 
laborer wants regular hours, a chance for recreation, a good place to live 
in, and enough wages to maintain a family according to American 
standards. 1 


A Load of Seeds in China Starting for America 

But there are aspects of the labor problem over which the 
farmer by his own unaided efforts can have little control. One 
of these is the problem of bringing the laborer and the job to¬ 
gether (see Chapter XI, p. 133). The work of the Employ¬ 
ment Service in the Department of Labor during the recent 
war affords a striking illustration of cooperation secured through 
an agency of government. 

1 W. J. Dougan and M. W. Leiserson in “Rural Social Problems,” Fourth Annual 
Report Wisconsin Country Life Conference, quoted in Nourse, Agricultural Eco¬ 
nomics, pp. 258-260. 






i6o 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


The Employment Service had been created in 1914, but was rapidly 
developed during the war to meet the demand for farm labor to provide a 
food supply adequate to war needs. The main offices of 
The United the Employment Service were with the Department of 
States Labor in Washington. But each state had a federal 

Service director of employment, and branch offices were established 

in local communities. The success of the whole scheme 
depended, first of all, upon cooperation between national, state, and local 
governments. 

Thousands of county agents and local rural community organizations 
discovered and reported local needs to local employment offices, which in 
turn distributed the information by means of the district, state, and national 
organization. Fifty-five thousand post-offices became farm-labor employ¬ 
ment agencies, postmasters and rural carriers acting as agents. Railroads 
cooperated both in reporting needs for the districts through which they 
run and in distributing labor to the points where needed. Newspaper offices 
served as employment bureaus. The operators of nearly 8000 rural tele¬ 
phone companies weekly called up the homes of two million farmers to in¬ 
quire as to needs. State and county councils of defense, chambers of com¬ 
merce, labor unions, farmers’ organizations, and other volunteer agencies 
afforded channels through which the farmer and the laborer were brought 
together. 

The number of persons directed to employment through this cooperative 
service during the fiscal year 1926 was approximately 1,800,00b. Details 
of registrations, opportunities for employment, and placements are shown 
in the following table (from the Report of the Secretary of Labor). 



Regis¬ 

trations 

Help 

Wanted 

Placed 


Regis¬ 

trations 

Help 

Wanted 

Placed 

July . . . 

August . . 

September . 
October 
November . 
December . 
January 

27 S,i 34 

215,589 

220,077 

277,243 

205,246 

207,089 

203,036 

188,150 
165,336 
209,096 
. 238,091 
163,092 
143,181 
118,470 

163,709 

141,452 

i 7 i ,495 

199,903 

142,357 ■ 
124,135 

102,679 

February . 
March . . 

April . . 

May . . 
June . . 

186,073 

239,667 

224,986 

234,099 

239,524 

122,211 

176,890 

179,286 

204,173 

183,563 

105,270 

150,096 

153,888 

177,020 

159,377 

Total 

2,727,763 

2,091,539 

1,791,381 


With the passing of the war emergency, the elaborate ma¬ 
chinery of the Employment Service was in large measure allowed 
to fall to pieces through lack of appropriations for its mainte¬ 
nance. This is true of much of the emergency organization 




















GOVERNMENT AS A MEANS OF COOPERATION 161 


of government developed during the war period. It illustrates 
the tendency in our country to leave business control as 
fully as possible to individual initiative excepting Employment 
in times of great emergency. One active section service in 
of the Employment Service is the Industrial peace time 
Information Division. This division gathers monthly infor¬ 
mation concerning industrial conditions. This information is 
carefully edited and published in the Industrial Employment 
Information Bulletin. A copy of this bulletin is furnished to all 
public employment offices in cooperation with the United States 
Employment Service and also to chambers of commerce, busi¬ 
ness men, manufacturers, and libraries all over the country. 

Another section of the Employment Service is the Junior 
Division, for the guidance of boys and girls from 16 to 21 years of 
age seeking employment. Local junior sections National 
were organized as branches of local employment vocational 
offices and in schools. A “junior counselor” was su idance 
placed in charge of each local junior section to study the needs 
and qualifications of those who applied for employment, and 
to give them advice. The Junior Division is still maintained 
with a director in the Washington office. The duties of the 
junior counselor are stated as follows: 

To influence boys and girls to remain in school as long as possible. 

To give aid toward the right start for those who have to leave school to go 
to work. 

To arouse the ambitions of the boys and girls to fit themselves for definite 
careers. 

To direct youth who are employed toward some form of trade, technical, 
or business school for special training. 

To promote the opportunities for vocational education. 

To follow up all applicants in their training and at their work to see that 
they have the best available advantages of study and labor. 

The array of facts contained in the foregoing paragraphs is 
given, not with the expectation that those who read will 
memorize them, but to suggest the enormous amount of work 



Field Laboratories 

U. S. Department of Agriculture. 
162 
































GOVERNMENT AS A MEANS OF COOPERATION 163 


that the United States government is doing in the interest of 
agriculture and the farmer, and the extensive machinery neces¬ 
sary to do it. The facts given are only a few of Government 
those that might be given. The detailed story of always at 
how much of this work is done is fascinating, and our service 
often of thrilling interest. All around us may be seen, if our 
eyes are open, the evidences of the work of our government. 
Always the governmental machinery is at hand to serve us in 
a thousand ways, if we are wise enough to use it. The more 
we study its work, the more we shall be impressed by the fact 
that its greatest service is in opening the way for cooperation, 
and in providing the organization and the leadership for such 
cooperation. 

Topics for investigation: 

How money serves as a means of cooperation. 

How a bank serves as a means of cooperation. 

The attractiveness of the conditions of living for farm laborers in your 
community. How they could be improved. 

The farm labor supply in your locality and state. 

The work of the United States Employment Service in your state and 
community. 

Employment agencies in your community at the present time. By 
whom conducted. Are they free, or run for profit? Advantages and dis¬ 
advantages of the two kinds. 

Harvesting the wheat crop in war time. 

The Industrial Employment Information Bulletin. The experience of 
the farmers of your locality as to its value. 

The Junior Division of the Employment Service. 

Junior counselors in your community. 

READINGS 

Procure from the State Department of Agriculture, the State Agricultural College, 
and the State Experiment Station, publications relating to their work. 

Send to the U. S. Department of Agriculture for its List of Publications Available 
for Distribution; or for publications relating to particular topics. Among the 
useful publications of the Department are: 

Farmers’ Bulletins (covering a wide variety of subjects). 


164 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Extension Service Bulletins and Circulars. 

The Year Book. 

Annual Reports of the Secretary of Agriculture. 

Program of Work of the U. S. Department of Agriculture (1917 or later years). 

Report on Agricultural Experiment Stations and Cooperative Agricultural Ex¬ 
tension Work (1915 or later years). 

A very useful publication is the “ Guide to United States Government Publica¬ 
tions,” published by the U. S. Bureau of Education as Bulletin, 1918, No. 2. It 
not only describes the publications of each department of government, but also the 
organization and work of each department and its subdivisions. (Government 
Printing Office, 20f$.) 

See also the latest edition of the Congressional Directory for outline of the functions 
of the various divisions of each department of government. 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series B : Lesson 30, Employment agencies. 

Series C : Lesson 12, Patents and inventions. 

Lesson 13, Market reports on fruits and vegetables. 


CHAPTER XIII 


THRIFT 

“ Thrift is good management of the business of living” 

This definition is taken from “Ten Lessons in Thrift,” 
issued by the Treasury Department of the United States 
Government (February, 1919). The United National 
States Government sent out these lessons because importance 
“America to-day stands in the position in which all of thnft 
her economic problems must be solved through thrift. . . . 
Unless our people gain a deep, sincere appreciation of the 
absolute necessity for thrift, we cannot hope to hold the proud 
position we occupy as the flag bearer of nations. . . .” 1 

The great war taught us some lessons about the importance 
of thrift to the nation. The enormous expenses of the war 
were paid and the armies and the civilian popula- Lessons of 
tions of the countries at war were fed very largely the war 
by the combined small savings of our people. Nearly 20 million 
people contributed to the fourth liberty loan, by which almost 
seven billion dollars were raised, an average of about $350 for 
each contributor. Almost every one bought war savings 
stamps, by which about a billion dollars were raised in 1918. 
Practically all this money came from savings. Enormous sums 
were also given to the Red Cross and other causes. To do this 
people saved and sacrificed “until it hurt.” The provisioning 
of our armies and of the needy peoples of Europe was made 
possible by the saving, in American homes, of slices of bread, 
of teaspoonfuls of sugar, of small portions of meat and fats. 

1 S. W. Strauss, President American Society for Thrift, in “The Patriotism of 
War Savings” (National Education Association pamphlet, Thrift, 1918) 

165 


i66 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Thrift, however, is not merely a war necessity. “The time 
when thrift shall not be needed—-needed as vitally as food 
Thrift as itself — will never come. . . . Through thrift 
patriotism alone can the rebuilding come — the rebuilding of 
America — the rebuilding of the world. . . . Thrift is patriot¬ 
ism because it is the elimination of every element that tends 
to retard. . . .” 1 

Thrift is necessary both for individual success and for good 
citizenship. It is only by thrift that the individual may in 



WORK AND SAVE 


, Only by keeping the cost of ' 

jproducsf ion on its present !evel, 
increasing production <>nd by 
ri|i<l Economy and saving on the ' 
part of the people can we hope 
for large decreases in the burden¬ 
some cost of living which now weighs 
us down if we fail, it will 

mean national disaster.” 

Woodrow Wilson. 

Put Tour Savings Into Government;Securiti 
Ask How At Any Banking Institution. 


Billboard at Trenton, N. J. 

some measure repay others for the care he himself received 
during dependent childhood, and provide, during his productive 
years, for the “rainy day” of sickness and old age. It is by 
thrift that capital is accumulated with which to carry on the 
world’s work (see p. 181). The citizen who saves and invests 
his savings in a home, in business enterprises, in bonds or savings 
stamps, not only makes his own future secure, but becomes 
identified with the community and takes a greater interest in it 
(see p. 118). The thrifty citizen inspires the confidence of 
the community, and acquires an influence in community affairs 

1 S. W. Strauss, “The Patriotism of War Savings.” 












THRIFT 


167 


that the unthrifty citizen does not enjoy. Finnish farmers in a 
certain section of New England are said to be able to obtain 
credit from neighboring bankers and business men more easily 
than many of their neighbors, and to be considered as especially 
desirable citizens, because of their reputation for thrift and 
honesty. Thrift is often confused with stinginess and selfish¬ 
ness. On the contrary it alone makes generosity and service 
possible. 

“Thrift is the very essence of democracy.” For democracy 
means freedom, equality of opportunity, “self-determination.” 
No man is a greater slave than one who is bound Thrift the 
and driven by financial necessity. By thrift the “ essence of 
mind is “unfettered by the petty annoyances that democrac y 
result from improvident ways.” Thrift means providing for 
the future. There is nothing in the world that will so establish 
one’s faith in the future and that will, therefore, give that free¬ 
dom of spirit upon which democracy depends, as the wise use 
of to-day and of to-day’s resources. 

“Every man must practice thrift and every man must have 
the chance of practicing it.” It is a right as well as a duty. 
Before the war it was said that four fifths of the Thrift a right 
wage earners of our country received less than as well as 
$75° a year for their labor. Studies in various a duty 
cities also showed that an average family of five could not 
maintain health and efficiency on an income of less than from 
$750 to $1000. Under such circumstances thrift is the strictest 
necessity, but it is a thrift that means pinching economy and the 
sacrifice of health and efficiency. It is not the thrift that provides 
for the future and gives freedom to the individual, the thrift that 
is “ the essence of democracy itself.” Every man should have an 
opportunity to earn a “living wage,” which includes an oppor¬ 
tunity to provide for the future. Democracy is not complete 
until that opportunity is afforded. 

Thrift, or the good management of the business of living, 


168 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


is shown (i) in earning, (2) in spending, (3) in saving, and (4) in 
investing. 

(1) Since the earning of a living was the subject of Chapter 

XI, we need not dwell upon it now except to note that a thrifty 
Thrift in person is an industrious person —* he makes wise 
earning use 0 f fog time; and also to note that many of those 

who are now in want, or who, in advanced years, are receiving 
small wages, owe their condition to a failure at some time or 
other to make use of the opportunity for thrift. Many people 
do not recognize the opportunity when it is presented, or lack 
the wisdom or the courage to seize it. Thrift involves making 
a choice , and in many cases a wise choice requires courage as 
well as wisdom. It is a choice between the satisfaction of 
present wants and the sacrifice of present enjoyment for the 
sake of greater satisfaction and service in the future. 

When a boy in school has a chance to take a job that will 
pay him wages, he has to make a choice between it and remain¬ 
ing in school. It may seem to be the thrifty thing to go to work; 
but real thrift is shown by careful choice of vocation, and by 
thorough preparation for it, even though it requires sacrifices 
that seem difficult (see pp. 137, 139). 

We may note here, also, that physical fitness is essential if 
earning power, which means power to perform service, is to be 
fully developed. The “conservation” of health and life is so 
important that a chapter is devoted to it later (Chapter XX). 

(2) After money has been earned, thrift shows itself first 

of all in the way the money is spent; and many of us have the 
Thrift in spending of the money that some one else has 

spending earned. Every time we spend a nickel or a dollar 

we make a choice — we choose to spend or not to spend, how 
much we shall spend, for what we shall spend. 

A lawyer in a small town reports that in one month he made 
out the necessary papers to enable 75 men to mortgage their 
homes to buy automobiles. 


THRIFT 


169 




An Unsightly Vacant City Lot Made Profitable and 
Beautiful 

















COMMUNITY CIVICS 



170 

Butchers say that during the war they more often sold expen¬ 
sive cuts of meat to wage earners who were by no means well- 
to-do, but who happened for the time to be getting good wages, 
than to people of larger means. One reason, perhaps, for 
extravagance in food and clothing on the part of unintelligent 
people who find themselves unusually prosperous, is that they 


United States Treasury Building, Washington, D. C. 

see no better way to spend their money. Those who find 
pleasure in books, in education for their children, in travel, in 
investing money in serviceable enterprises, and in the higher 
things of life, have to make a choice in regard to what they 
shall enjoy, and as a rule prefer to sacrifice the grosser pleasures. 

People, and especially young people, need a certain amount of 
Choosing sweets in their diet. But when we know that 
what to spend the candy bill of the people of the United States 
amounts to more than half a billion dollars a year, we may well 


















THRIFT 



The Woolworth Building, New York City 

One of the tallest buildings, and one of the most beautiful, in the United States. It 
was built by a man whose fortune was made from the profits of “ 5 and 10 cent stores.” 


think twice before deciding to spend much money for candy. 
Nearly two billion dollars are spent each year for cigarettes and 
tobacco in other forms, or nearly as much as the government 






























172 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


spends for education; and another 260 million on perfumes and 
cosmetics. 

The few cents difference in the price of two articles between 
which we must choose, and the nickels we spend for immediate 
enjoyment, may seem to amount to very little; but the New 
York City street railways collected in a year $95,000,000 in 
five-cent fares, and the Woolworth Building in New York, one 
of the largest office buildings in the United States, was built 
from the profits of “5 and 10 Cent Stores.” One thrift stamp 
a week amounted in five years to $65, and 14 cents a day at 
4 per cent interest amounts in twenty years to more than $1500. 
Tests for In one of the “Ten Lessons in Thrift,” the 

spending following “tests in buying” are given: 

Do I need it? 

Do I need it now ? 

Do I need something else more? 

Will it pay for itself in the end ? 

Do I help or injure the community in buying this? 

Do you have instruction in your school in home economics that relates 
to wise spending or buying? 

If you do not have such instruction, apply to the home demonstration 
agent in your county (if there is one), or write to your state agricultural 
college, or to the United States Department of Agriculture, Washington, 
D.C., for circulars or bulletins relating to thrift in buying food, clothing, etc. 

In writing for such material, why is it an example of thrift to ask for 
one copy of each publication for your class or for your school , rather than 
to ask for a copy for each pupil? 

In what ways is thrift shown by having a class committee write one 
letter making the request for the class instead of having each member of the 
class write ? 

Has any home demonstration work relating to thrift been conducted 
in your community? What methods were employed, and what results 
achieved ? 

Who in your family makes most of the expenditures for the family 
living? 


THRIFT 


173 


For what items in the family living is most of the money spent? 

What are some of the things that have to be considered in buying food? 
clothing? house furnishings? books? amusements? 

Discuss the topics mentioned in the following statement of “values in 
buying” (from “Ten Lessons in Thrift”): 

Food: nutrition, healthfulness, cleanliness, attractiveness, flavor, qual¬ 
ity, price, economy in preparation (of time, strength, fuel, utensils), buy¬ 
ing from bulk or in package, buying in quantity or small unit, buying for 
the day or laying in stores, calculation of portions, calculation of meals, 
varied diet. 

Clothing: design related to material, color, and becomingness; style, 
durability; adaptability to fine or rough wear, to repair and remaking; 
suitability to season, health, occupation, comfort; home-made versus 
ready-made; conditions of manufacture, use of child labor, the sweat 
shop, the living wage, health. 

Make a study at the grocery of the relative prices of articles bought in 
small and large quantities: for example, laundry soap by the bar, by the 
quarter’s worth, by the box; canned goods by the can, by the dozen, and 
by the case; flour by the pound, by the 25-pound sack, 50-pound sack, by the 
barrel; etc. 

Make a study of the relative prices of articles in bulk and in package; 
for example, vinegar by the bottle and by the gallon; bacon in bulk and in 
jars, etc. 

Why may it be economy to buy some food articles in packages rather 
than in bulk, even at a higher price? Give examples. 

Which is likely to be more economical, to buy groceries by tele¬ 
phone or in person? To buy by mail order or at the'store in town? 
Why? 

At Christmas time the Park View community center in Washington, 
D. C., ordered 140 turkeys from a rural neighborhood center in Maryland. 
The turkeys were brought by the producers to the schoolhouse of the rural 
neighborhood, taken by a postal service motor-truck to the schoolhouse of 
the Park View center in Washington, and from there distributed to the 
140 families. The city buyers paid an average of 15 cents a pound 
less than the price prevailing in the Washington markets, and the pro¬ 
ducers received 6 cents a pound more than the Washington markets were 
paying. 

Why was there a saving to both producer and consumer in the above 
case? What costs of marketing were cut out or reduced? 

What is the “middleman”? Does he perform a real service to the 
community? Should he be paid for his service? Why? Is it just that 


174 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

the middleman should be “eliminated” by cooperative marketing and 
buying organizations? Why? 

Is there any cooperative buying organization in your community? If 
so, how has it benefited the community? If not, why? (Consult your 
parents, your county agent, and others.) 

Get publications from your state agricultural college relating to co¬ 
operative buying and selling. 

Wise expenditures depend not only upon knowledge of prices 
and qualities, but also upon good management, as in planning 
Thrift in ahead. One plan that has been the means of lifting 
management ma ny individuals and families out of financial 
difficulties and of enabling them to lay by as savings a portion 
of their income, however small the latter may be, is the budget , 
which means the apportionment of expenditures according to a 
plan laid out in advance. No budget can apply to all families 
alike, but the following illustrates the principle: 

House (rent, taxes, insurance, repairs) .25% 

Food (all expenditures for the table, ice, etc.) ........ 30% 

Clothing (materials and making, repairing, cleaning, pressing, 

millinery, shoes).13% 

Housekeeping (labor and materials for laundry, fuel and light, tele¬ 
phone, supplies, and furnishings) . 12% 

Educational (school and school books, club dues, church and charity 
contributions, gifts, books, magazines, newspapers, amusements, 

medical and dental treatment).6% 

Luxuries (all items not necessaries and not coming under “educa¬ 
tional,” such as candies, etc.).4% 


Savings. .- I?% 

Total.100% 


Before a budget can be planned, and in order to know 
whether it is being lived up to, it is necessary to keep accounts 
of receipts and expenditures. With such accounts, it is pos¬ 
sible to determine where savings can be made under some 
heads and where, perhaps, it is necessary or advisable to 
spend more. 











THRIFT 


175 


Seven Steps toward Saving 1 


3d Step 
2d Step 


7th Step 
6th Step 
5th Step 
4th Step 


A 

100% 

Home 


Analyze 

Accounts 


Adopt 

Accurate Accounts 


Build a Budget 


Make Practice 
Follow Precept 


Estimate Expenses 


Consider Cost 


1 st Step 


Know Needs 


Is a budget used in your home? Find out from your parents their 
reason for using, or not using it. 

Could you use a budget in your own personal affairs? 

Find out whether a budget system is used by your local government 
and your state government in apportioning expenditures. 

How may we “budget” our time? Is the time you spend in school 
‘budgeted”? Make a daily time budget for yourself. 

When is clothing a necessity and when a luxury ? 2 
When is food a necessity and when an amusement? 

When is amusement education and when a frivolity? 

When is fuel an item in rent and when current housekeeping expense? 
When are club dues education and when amusement? 

When is vacation health and when amusement? 

When is the theater amusement and when indulgence? 

When is rent a necessity and when an extravagance? 

1 From “Suggestions for Home Demonstration Agents regarding Methods of 
Teaching Thrift,” States Relations Service Circular, Dec. 27, 1918. 

2 This and the following topics are adapted from “Ten Lessons in Thrift.” 






















176 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


(3) The object of thrift in spending is both to get the greatest 
value for our money now and to insure savings that will provide 
Thrift in f° r the future. Every budget should make as 
saving definite provision for savings as for rent or clothing. 

The purpose of a budget and of accounts is to assure a surplus 
rather than a deficit. Successful men and women make it a 
practice always to spend less than they earn, no matter how 
little they earn, and they cannot be sure of this without planning 
ahead and keeping accounts. Saving in this way is largely a 
matter of habit; but it is astonishing how many fail to form the 
habit. Court records show that out of every 100 men who die, 
82 leave no income-producing estates, or that about 85 per cent 
who reach the age of 65 are dependent upon relatives or upon 
the community. “Out of every 100 widows, only 18 are left 
in comfortable circumstances, while 47 are obliged to go to work 
and 35 are left in absolute want.” 1 

Wise buying means saving money; and so does the wise use 
of what we buy. It is said that an American ship can be dis- 
American tinguished from the ships of other nations in harbor 
extravagance by the flocks of gulls that hover around to feast on 
the food thrown overboard. Whether this is true or not, 
Americans have a reputation for wastefulness. It has been 
called our chief national sin. It is said that a family in France 
can live in comfort on what an American family in the same 
circumstances ordinarily throws away. An average load of 
garbage in New York City has been shown to contain fifty 
dollars’ worth of good food materials. Investigations by the 
Food Administration showed that there is enough glycerine in a 
ton of garbage to make explosives for 14 shells, enough fat and 
acid to make 75 bars of soap, and enough fertilizer to grow 8 
bushels of wheat. It is said that 24 cities wasted enough garbage 
to make 4 million pounds of nitroglycerine, 40 million cakes of 

1 S. W. Strauss, “The Greater Thrift,” National Education Association Proceed¬ 
ings , 1916, p. 278. 


THRIFT 


177 



soap, and fertilizer for 3 million bushels of wheat. On the 
other hand 300 cities produced 52 million pounds of pork by 
feeding their garbage to hogs. 

The Department of Agriculture has shown that the waste of 
a half-cup of milk daily by each of the 20 million families in 
the United States would equal in a year the total What small 
production of 400 thousand cows; that one ounce savings 
of meat or fat saved daily would in a year mean Wl11 do 
875 thousand steers, or a million hogs; and that if 81 per cent 


A School Bank in Operation 

of the whole wheat were used in bread instead of 75 per cent, the 
saving in a year would feed 12 million people. During the war 
our government organized a campaign for the salvage of “junk, ” 
and the total amount collected had a value of ij billion dollars. 
The school children of Des Moines, Iowa, are reported to have 
gathered and sold two thousand dollars’ worth of waste paper in 
one week, and those of many other communities obtained similar 
results. 




COMMUNITY CIVICS 


I -/8 

Every successful business man is constantly vigilant to 
discover and remedy waste in his business — waste of 
Value of materials, time, and effort. Many of the most 

by-products valuable products in certain industries are “by¬ 
products,” — that is, products produced as an incident to 
the main industry and from materials that otherwise would 
have been wasted. In the manufacture of gas from coal, 
for example, important by-products are coke, tar, and am¬ 
monia. There has been great waste in the lumber industry, 
but now practically every scrap from the tree may be used. 
In the Forestry Products Laboratory at the University of 
Wisconsin, a process has been discovered of producing from 
15 to 25 gallons of wood alcohol from a ton of sawdust 
— and sawdust has many other uses. These are only illus¬ 
trations. Scientists and inventors, many of them employed 
by the government, are constantly at work finding uses for 
waste products. 

Wastefulness Wastefulness is found in great variety in farm- 
in farming j n g activities. For example: 


Why plant seed only 60 or 70 per cent of which will germinate when, 
for a few dollars extra and a little work, seed may be procured that will 
average 90 to 95 per cent in the germination test? Why purchase or culti¬ 
vate a worthless crab apple tree or a hybrid when Rome Beauty, Northern 
Spy, or Grimes Golden, and other standard varieties of apples may be se¬ 
cured for a few additional cents? Why feed and care for a “scrub” pig, 
calf, or colt when it will bring at maturity only half or two thirds the price 
of a thoroughbred? ... It is not thrift to invest money in second-rate 
products. 

Some farmers are so careless . . . that they do not husk their corn in 
the fall but leave it standing in the field until late winter or early spring. 
By this time the fodder is somewhat decayed and unfit for feeding pur¬ 
poses. Possibly a third of the corn has been eaten by the birds, a third of it 
has rotted, and a third of it remains in a damp and moldy condition. . . . 
Many boys could make good wages by going over the corn field at cutting 
time and collecting the ears lying on the ground. . . . Often a farmer 
will cut down his hay, paying no attention whatever to the reports of the 


THRIFT 


179 



weather bureau. . . . Apples shaken from the trees by the wind decay on 
the ground. . . . 

The bearings of mowing machines and reapers often suffer excessive wear 
because the owner neglects to keep them properly oiled. Often a wheat 
drill, a mowing machine, a threshing machine, or an engine is left out of 
doors for a whole year, or for several months after the farmer has ceased to 
use it. A good piece of machinery, if judiciously used, properly lubricated, 
and put away in a dry place, may last from ten to twenty years, while the 


A Community Kitchen 

life of such machinery will only be about half as long without proper care. 
If a wooden handle rots loose from its fastenings it is an indication that the 
handle has not been thoroughly dried after it has been used. Tools rust 
out very readily if they are not kept dry and thoroughly oiled. ... So 
careless are some farmers that hoes, shovels, mattocks, wrenches, saws, 
and axes are thrown down in the field or woods to lie there until it is again 
necessary to use them. It often takes hours to find an article thus mis¬ 
placed or thrown aside. It is economy of time to know just where to find 
everything on the farm. 1 

The topics on page 180 from publications of the United States 
Department of Agriculture are suggestive: 

1 The Teaching of Thrift, by H. R. Bonner, Assistant State Superintendent of 
Schools, West Virginia, pp. 22, 23. 









i8o 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Preventing loss of food in the home: 

Suitable food storage places and equipment. 

Essentials of a good refrigerator. 

The care of winter vegetables and fruit. 

The care of perishable vegetables and fruit. 

Prevention of spoilage of milk, meat, and fish. 

Preservation of eggs. 

Care of bread and other baked products. 

What should not go into the garbage pail. 

Good cooking and attractive serving. 

•Failure to use perishable food promptly. 

Failure to use left-overs completely. 

Failure to use all food materials (fats, meat and fish bones, etc.). 
Leaving small portions of food in mixing and cooking dishes. 

Lack of accurate measuring and mixing, so that food is not pala¬ 
table. 

Allowing food to be scorched or otherwise spoiled in preparation. 
Providing over-generous portions in serving. 

Failure to eat all food served. 

Preventing loss of fo’od in the market: 

Sanitary display cases for food. 

Prevention of “sampling” and handling of food. 

Food protection in food carts and delivery wagons. 

Proper care of milk. 

Proper care of meat and fish. 

Prevention of cereal products from deterioration. 

Protection of fruits and vegetables. 

The care of bread and bakery products. 

Careful selection of food. 

Following are special points which might be discussed: 

The well-planned house. 

Saving steps by better arrangement of equipment. 

Lessening work by systematizing it. 

Menu-planning for lessened work in preparation. 

Household lighting. 

Labor-saving equipment in the laundry, the kitchen, and the sew¬ 
ing room. 

Labor-saving devices for house cleaning. 

Leading a simple life. 

Apply to your home demonstration agent, or write to U. S. Department 
of Agriculture, for publications relating to thrift in food, clothing, fuel, etc. 


THRIFT 


181 


(4) Thrift involves a wise use of savings. They may be 
invested in a home, a wise use because of the satisfaction 
that a home produces. If the home is well located, well built, 
and well kept up, it will probably also increase in money value. 
Savings may be invested in machinery for farming, Thrift in 
manufacturing, or mining; in a stock of goods to be investment 
sold at a profit; in houses or office buildings to be rented to 
others; or they may be lent to others who pay interest for 
their use. In all these cases money represents capital — capital 
being the machinery or tools and other equipment with which 
wealth is produced. 

Capital is brought into existence in only one way — that is, by consuming 
less than is produced. If one has a dollar one can spend it either for an 
article of consumption, say confectionery, or for an article of production, 
say a spade. He who buys a spade becomes a capitalist to the amount of 
a dollar — that is, he becomes the owner of tools. The process is precisely 
the same whether the amount in question is a dollar or a million dollars . 1 

Every business requires capital, some more than others. 

Farming requires more capital to-day than formerly because 

of the increased use of machinery. The necessary 

. . . , , . . -1 Borrowing 

capital must either be saved by the person who 

wants to use it, or borrowed from others who have saved it. 

The advantage of borrowing is that one does not have to wait so long 
to get possession of the tools and equipment. One can get them at once 
and make them produce the means of paying for themselves. Without 
them the farmer’s production might be so low as to make it difficult ever 
to accumulate enough with which to buy them. With their help he may 
be able to pay for them — that is, to pay off the debt — in a shorter time 
than it would take to accumulate the purchase price without them. That 
is the only advantage of credit in any business, but it is a great advantage 
to those who know how to use it . 2 

IT. N. Carver, “How to Use Farm Credit,” Farmers’ Bulletin 593, U. S. 
Department of Agriculture, p. 2. 

2 T. N. Carver, “How to Use Farm Credit,” Farmers’ Bulletin, 593, U. S. Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture, p. 2. 


182 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Credit 


Credit is simply a person’s ability to borrow and depends upon 
the confidence that others place in him. This confidence 
depends on his reputation for honesty and his 
known ability to repay. A man, as a rule, has to 
have something — land or property of other kind — that he can 
offer as security before he can borrow much. It is for this reason 
that thrift is essential to a man’s credit — thrift and honesty. 

There is no magic about credit. It is a powerful agency for good in the 
hands of those who know how to * use it. So is a buzz saw. They are 
about equally dangerous in the hands of those who do not understand 
them. . . . Many a farmer would be better off to-day if he had never had 
a chance to borrow money at all, or go into debt for the things which he 
bought. However, there is no reason why those farmers who do know how 
to use credit should not have it. 

Shortsighted people, however, who do not realize how inexorably the 
time of payment arrives, who do not know how rapidly tools wear out and 
have to be replaced, or do not keep accounts in order that they may tell 
exactly where they stand financially, will do well to avoid borrowing. 
Debts have to be paid with deadly certainty, and they who do not have 
the wherewithal when the day of reckoning arrives become bankrupt with 
equal certainty. 

On the other hand there is nothing disgraceful in borrowing for productive 
purposes. The feeling that it is not quite respectable to go into debt has 
grown out of the old habit of borrowing to pay living expenses. That 
was regarded, perhaps rightly, as a sign of incompetency. . . . But to 
borrow for a genuinely productive purpose, for a purpose that will bring 
you in more than enough to pay off your debt, principal and interest, is a 
profitable enterprise. It shows business sagacity and courage, and is not 
a thing to be ashamed of. But it cannot be too much emphasized that the 
would-be borrower must calculate very carefully and be sure that it is a 
productive enterprise before he goes into debt . 1 

Even though a farmer be thrifty, industrious, and honest, 
the conditions of farm business are such that it has not always 
Cooperation been easy for him to borrow capital. Here again 
for credit cooperation helps. In some of our states the law 
permits the organization of credit unions. The members are 

1 T. N. Carver, “How to Use Farm Credit,” p. 2. 



THRIFT 


183 

farmers of a neighborhood or district and, therefore, are ac¬ 
quainted with one another. Each member must buy shares 
of stock, which provides a certain amount of funds. The union 
may also receive deposits of money, paying interest on them 
as a savings bank would do. This increases the funds and also 
encourages thrift on the part of the farmer. Idle money, or 
money that might otherwise be spent unwisely, is thus made 
productive. In some unions, as in Massachusetts, children are 
encouraged to deposit their small savings, and in some cases 
half the capital of the union is made up of such small savings 
deposits. From these funds loans are made to members of the 
union on reasonable terms, provided they are to be used for 
productive purposes. The union may also borrow money from 
the bank in town on the collective credit of its members for the 
improvement of agricultural conditions in the neighborhood. 

Similar aid to the farmers’ credit has been given by the 
national government through the Federal Farm Loan Act of 
1916. This Act created a Federal Farm Loan National aid 
Board in the Treasury Department, and twelve to the farmers’ 
Federal Land Banks, one in each of twelve dis- credlt 
tricts into which the United States was divided for that purpose. 
Through the organization provided by the board and the 
banks, a farmer may now borrow money on more favorable 
terms, but only on condition that he agrees to use the money 
for the purchase and improvement of land or for equipment, 
and to engage in the actual cultivation of the farm for the 
development of which he desired the money. 

The provisions of the Federal Farm Loan Act afford an excellent illus¬ 
tration of how government promotes citizen cooperation. The government 
does not lend the money to the farmers; it merely provides the machinery 
by which the farmers may cooperate among themselves, and also secure 
the cooperation of investors in all parts of the country, to obtain capital 
necessary for the proper development of the land. As a rule the farmer 
can borrow money from the land bank only by being a member of a local 
“nationalfarm loan association.” His dealings with the bank are through 


184 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


this association. His membership in the association gives him better 
standing and secures for him better terms than he could get if acting sep¬ 
arately. Moreover, the money that the bank lends to the farmer comes 
from the farmers who belong to the association* and from investors in all 
parts of the country, who buy shares of stock in the bank and bonds issued 
by the bank on the security of the farmers’ land and equipment. The whole 
scheme is one of cooperation which would be impossible but for the legisla¬ 
tion, financial support, and supervision of the government at Washington. 



Good Returns on the Investment 
Boys’ Club and leader examining a good litter of pigs. 


It will be seen then that much of the capital that a farmer 
uses is borrowed, and is made up of small savings of other 
people — some of them his neighbors, others in 

Partnership . 0 . , 

in the distant places. I he same is true with respect to 

nation’s the capital used in all other businesses. The 

enormous capital of railroads is derived chiefly 

from the savings of millions of people, some of whom buy shares 

of railroad stock directly, but most of whom deposit their 

savings in banks or other institutions which, in turn, lend it to 

the railroads or invest it in their stock. The farmer or the 

school boy who has a savings account in a neighboring bank 







THRIFT 


185 

thus may become a partner in various business enterprises of 
the country. His dollars or dimes, added to the dollars and 
dimes of many other people, are used to buy machinery and 
tools and materials, and to pay labor. Because of the service 
performed by his savings he receives interest on his money. 

There are many opportunities for young people to invest 
savings in productive enterprises, — perhaps more in rural 
communities than elsewhere. The different kinds opportuni- 
of boys’ and girls’ clubs illustrate the variety of ties for 
channels through which money may be both earned mvestment 
and invested. As soon as a boy invests a little money in a pig, 
or a calf, or garden tools, he becomes a capitalist to that extent. 
It is to be hoped that not many have the experience of the boy 
described in the following lines: 1 

Johnnie bought a little pig with money he had earned, 

He named her Nell and fed her well, and lots of tricks she learned. 

But Nellie grew to be a sow, had piggies quite a few, 

Then father up and sold them, and kept the money, too. 

Johnnie took a little calf as pay for hoeing corn, 

He loved the calf and the calf loved him as sure as you are born. 

The calfie grew to be a cow, as all good calfies do, 

Then father up and sold her, and kept the money, too. 

Now, Johnnie loved his little pets, but father loved the pelf, 

So Johnnie left his father’s farm and struck out for himself. 

Said Johnnie’s pa, one summer day, “I often wonder why 
Boys don’t like life upon the farm, The city’ is their cry.” 

“It always will be strange to me,” continued Johnnie’s pa, 

“It only goes to prove, though, how ungrateful children are.” 

When Johnnie heard what father said, he gave a bitter laugh, 

And thought of his empty childhood and of his pig and calf. 

Savings may be deposited in savings banks, which accept 
small deposits and pay compound interest, usually at a rate 

1 Read by R. R Wilson, in an address before the National Council of Education, 
N. E. A. Proceedings , 1917, p. 133- 


186 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


of 3 per cent or 3J per cent. Such banks operate in accordance 
with state or national laws to protect the depositor against 
Savings loss. Many schools conduct school savings banks, 
banks The pupils bring their small amounts to the 

teacher or to some pupil acting as “teller,” the collected funds 
then being deposited in some bank in the community. These 
school banks promote habits of thrift and afford experience in 



At the Bank 


business methods, besides bringing into use in the world’s work 
many small amounts of money that would otherwise be lying 
idle or spent unwisely. 

In 1910 Congress established the Postal Savings System 
under which any post office may be a savings bank. Any 
Postal Savings person over ten years of age may deposit money 
System a t the postal savings bank in amounts of from 
$1.00 to $25.00, receiving from the postmaster postal savings 
certificates as evidence of the deposit. Provision is made for 
savings accounts of less than a dollar by selling postal savings 














THRIFT 


187 


stamps at ten cents each, ten of which may be exchanged for 
a dollar certificate. Two per cent interest is paid on postal 
savings, but savings certificates may be exchanged for postal 
savings bonds , bearing interest at the rate of 2% per cent. 

During the war the United States Treasury Department 
(through a Savings Division which has since been discontinued) 
carried on an organized campaign of thrift educa- Lending 
tion. The idea was to stimulate the people, not to the 
only to conserve the nation’s resources, but also to government 
save in order to lend money to the government by the purchase 
of “liberty bonds” and “war savings stamps.” The people 
responded by investing in these bonds and stamps from patriotic 
motives. This was one of the principal means by which the 
government borrowed money for the conduct of the war. 

In peace time, also, the purchase of Treasury Bonds and other 
government securities is not only a safe investment, but also 
a form of service to the government and to the nation. It is im¬ 
portant to remember that saving is not thrift, unless the savings 
are put to some form of service. The mere hoarding of money 
is not thrift and does not contribute to the welfare either of the 
individual or of the community. 

Among the many other agencies to promote thrift we shall 

only mention building and loan associations and insurance. 

The purpose of building and loan associations is „ 

r r „ ,, 0 , , *11 Insurance 

to help people of small means to purchase or build 

homes. Insurance affords a particularly good illustration of 
organized cooperation. The premiums paid by thousands of 
policy holders produce a large sum of money, part of which 
goes to pay the expenses of the insurance company, but most 
of which is invested in enterprises that cause the amount rapidly 
to increase. Out of this fund the occasional losses of individ¬ 
uals are paid. Life insurance is a good form of investment. 
It provides for the future of the family of the insured in case 
of his death. By the endowment plan the insured may himself 


188 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


receive, at the end of a specified number of years, all that he 
has paid in premiums together with interest. 

During the war our national government itself insured the 
soldiers against death or injury. This was known as war 
risk insurance. At the end of the war the soldier had the 
privilege of converting the war risk insurance into a regular 
form of insurance, still provided, however, by the government 
itself. One of our states also, Wisconsin, sells life insurance 
to its citizens. 

As we proceed with our study we shall encounter other 
aspects of thrift in various chapters. As a nation we may be 
thrifty or unthrifty in the use of our resources (see Chapters XIV 
and XV). Thrift is as essential in our “community house¬ 
keeping,” which is carried on by government, as in our homes 
and business. But we can hardly expect thrift to become a 
national characteristic unless it first becomes a personal habit. 

Are you a capitalist? If so, explain in what way. 

What forms does the capital take with which your father does business? 

What capital does an Eskimo have? the American Indians when the 
country was first settled? 

Do you belong to a thrift club? Would it be desirable to organize one 
in your school? Confer with your teacher and principal about it. Write 
to the United States Treasury Department, Washington, D.C., for liter¬ 
ature regarding organization. 

Is there a credit union, or a savings association, or other organization 
to promote thrift in your community? If so, find out how it operates. 

Write a story on the subject, “ What my five dollars may accomplish 
after I put it in the savings bank, before it comes back to me with interest.” 

Why are people willing to accept a lower rate of interest from a postal 
savings bank than from an ordinary savings bank? 

READINGS 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series A: Lesson 6, Capital. 

Lesson 13, U. S. Food Administration. 

Lesson 14, Substitute foods. 

Lesson 15, Woman as the family purchaser. 


THRIFT 


189 


Lesson 21, Borrowing capital for modern business. 

Lesson 22, The commercial bank and modern business. 

Series B: Lesson 7, An intelligently selected diet. 

Lesson 22, Financing the war. 

Lesson 23, Thrift and war savings. 

Series C: Lesson 7, Preserving foods. 

Lesson 8, Preventing waste of human beings. 

Lesson 14, The U. S. Fuel Administration. 

Lesson 16, The Commercial Economy Board of the Council of Na¬ 
tional Defense. 

Write U. S. Treasury Department for materials; especially “Ten Lessons in 
Thrift,” and “Teaching Thrift in Elementary Schools.” Both of these contain lists 
of readings. 

The Post-Office Department has publications descriptive of the postal savings 
service. 

Farmers’ Bulletins, U. S. Department of Agriculture, relating to thrift. 

Federal Farm Loan Act, How It Benefits the Farmer, Farmers’ Bulletin 792. 

See references in footnotes in this chapter. 

Dunn, The Community and the Citizen, chap, xiv, “Waste and Saving.” 

The local public library, the State Library, and the State Agricultural College, 
will doubtless furnish lists of references and perhaps provide materials. 

The United States Bureau of Education will send list of references. 


CHAPTER XIV 


THE RELATION BETWEEN THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND 

11 Nature was much bigger and stronger than man. She would 
suffer no sudden highways to be thrown across her spaces; she abated 
not an inch of her mountains, compromised not a foot of her forests. 

... For the creation of the nation the conquest of her proper terri¬ 
tory from Nature was first necessary. ... A bold race has derived 
inspiration from the size, the difficulty, the danger of the task.” 

If you wanted to buy a farm, what facts would you investigate in regard 
to land and location? 

What farm in your neighborhood comes nearest to meeting your require¬ 
ments in these matters? Explain fully why. 

Make a sketch map of a farm in your neighborhood, preferably one upon 
which you have lived, showing as nearly as you can the boundaries, the 
position of highlands and lowlands, marshes, timber, streams, etc. Also 
the position of house, barns, bridges, roads, and other important features. 

Did the features of the land indicated on your map determine the location 
of the buildings? of the roads and bridges? the kinds of crops raised 
on different parts of the farm? 

Should the surface features of the land be taken into account in deter¬ 
mining the position of the house and barns in relation to each other? Why? 

Has the character of the land influenced the life of the farmer’s family 
in any way? Explain. 

Directly or indirectly, geographical conditions affect every 
aspect of community life and help or hinder us in satisfying all 
Importance of our wants ( see Chapter I). Their influence is 
geographical chiefly felt, however, in their relation to the 
economic interest of the people; that is, in rela¬ 
tion to earning a living and the production of wealth. 

Every step that man has taken to make his relations with the 
land permanent and definite has been a step of progress in 

190 


THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND 


I 9 I 

civilization, as when, for example, the savage hunter became 
a herdsman, or the herdsman an agriculturist. We live to-day 
in an age of machinery, which is a result of Establishing 
turning to our use the metals from the depths of relations with 
the earth and the power derived from the forces the land 
of nature, as in the application of steam, electricity, and the 
explosive force of gasoline. Many have had a part in this 
work of establishing relations with the land: explorers; 
scientists who have discovered the uses of our varied mineral 
and vegetable resources and how to make the forces of nature 
serve us; engineers who have built our railroads and bridges 
and tunneled our mountains. A most important part has been 
taken by those who win their living directly from nature’s 
resources — the woodsman, the miner, the farmer; and the 
service of the farmer has been especially great in giving stability 
to our community life. 

Those American Indians were most civilized who had de¬ 
veloped agriculture to the highest point, because this meant 
a settled life. If we recall the story of the coloniza- Agriculture 
tion of America we shall remember that it was means a 
not successfully accomplished by the gold hunters settled Ufe 
and fur traders who came first, but only when those came who, 
as farmers, began to cultivate the soil. Later, as the popula¬ 
tion moved westward across the Alleghenies into the Mississippi 
Valley and on to the Pacific Coast, the hunters and trappers 
were the scouts who found the way, while the real army that 
took possession of the land was an army of farmers. 

Did the American Indians who formerly lived in your locality lead a 
settled life? Why? Were they agriculturists to any extent? If so, what 
do you know of their method of agriculture? 

Of what pastoral peoples have you read? Why was their life more set¬ 
tled than that of hunting peoples? Why less settled than that of farmers? 

Why were settlements by gold hunters and fur traders likely not to be 
permanent? 

Do you know of important mining towns that have had a brief life? 


Courtesy American Magazine of Art 

Explorers of the Great Northwest—Lewis and Clark 
A statue at the University of Virginia. 

JQ2 















THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND 


193 


The story of how individuals acquired the right to own land 
is an interesting one, but too long to be told here. The right 
has long been recognized and protected by govern- p rotecting 
ment. If your father owns a piece of land he ownership 
doubtless has a deed for it, containing an accurate of land 
description of the land and giving him title to ownership. In 
each county there is an office of government where all deeds 
are recorded — the office of the recorder or register of deeds. 



Courtesy American Magazine of Art. 

“ The Prospector ” 

After a painting by Allen True. 


The record of every piece of land is thus kept and is open to 
examination by any one. If a man wishes to buy a piece of 
land he will go to the office of the recorder and find out whether 
the title to the land is clear. Only by so doing may he be 
protected against error or fraud. 

Since lands are likely to change hands a number of times, 
and since men frequently mortgage their lands as security for 
loans or other indebtedness, thus giving to others Transfers 
a claim to their land, it is sometimes a tedious and of land 
difficult task for a buyer to trace the record back and to be sure 









194 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


that the title to the land is clear. It sometimes requires months. 
There are lawyers who make a business of examining the records 

and making abstracts of 
titles. This involves ex¬ 
pense. Besides, there is 
always the chance that a 
mistake may be made 
somewhere. For this 
reason some states have 
adopted a plan known as 
the Torrens System of land 
transfer, from the name 
of the man who devised 
it in Australia. 

Under the Torrens System 
the government itself, through 
its proper officer, may examine 
the title to any piece of land. 
The land is then registered , and 
the owner is given a certificate as evidence. If a mortgage is placed on 
the land or if it changes hands the transaction is recorded on the certificate 
and in the office records. A mere glance at the record of registry or at the 
certificate is sufficient to ascer¬ 
tain the title to the land. Thus 
time and expense are saved; 
and moreover the government 
gives its absolute guarantee to 
the owner or buyer as to his 
rights in the land. 

The Torrens System is in 
use in some form in fourteen 
states of the Union, in the 
Philippines and Hawaii, and in 
various other countries of the 
world. 

When settlers began to occupy the lands west of the Alle¬ 
ghenies, many of them laid claim to tracts without much regard 
















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c 









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ju 

fli 







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. 5 
non 

2 

L 

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c 









. 2 

cL 





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w . 1 

E. 




1 


Base 


Line 


II. 






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Y 


X 


z 

3 







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LI 

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4 

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I. X is township 3 north in range 3 west 
Y “ “ 4 “ “ “ 4 east 

Z “ “ 2 south “ “ 2 “ 

W“ “ 4 “ “ “ 3 west 















































THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND 


195 


6 

5 

4 

3 

2 

l 

7 

a 

8 

9 

10 

II 

12 

18 

17 

16 

15 

14 

13 

19 

20 

21 

22 

23 

24 

30 

29 

28 

27 

26 

25 

31 

32 

33 

34 

35 

36 


III. A Township Showing Sections 
(36 square miles). Suppose this to be 
township X in diagram I. Then the 
section named a is section 8 of township 
3 north in range 3 west. 


for the claims of others. 
Boundary lines were indefinite. 
Where surveys The 

survey 

were made they of the public 

r, • lands 
were often inac¬ 
curate. Much confusion re¬ 
sulted. Disputes arose that 
frequently found their way 
into the courts and dragged on 
for many years. The govern¬ 
ment sought to put an end to 
this state of affairs, and in 


Thomas Jefferson’s administra¬ 
tion a survey was begun to 
establish lines by which any 
piece of land might be located and defined with exactness. 


The government survey was begun by establishing certain north and 


south lines known as principal meridians. 
There are twenty-four of these, the first being 
the meridian that separates Indiana from Ohio, 
while the last runs through the state of Oregon. 
At intervals of six miles east and west of the 
principal meridians were established other me¬ 
ridians called range lines. A parallel of latitude 
was then chosen as a base line , and at intervals 
of six miles north and south of the base line were 
established township lines. These township lines 
with the range lines divide the country into 
areas six miles square called townships. A town¬ 
ship may thus be located with reference to its 
nearest base line and principal meridian (see 
diagram I). 

Since meridians converge as we go north 
(look at a globe), the townships are not exactly 
square, and become slightly smaller toward the 
north. To correct this, certain parallels north 
and south of the base line were chosen as 


40 

acres 

NE % 
N WM 

NX N DM 

SX NWK 
80 acres 


SEK 
NEK 
40 acres 

160 acres 

SWK 

160 acres 

S EK 


IV. A Section (640 acres) 
Suppose this to be section a 
of diagram III. 

Then the 160 acres in the 
lower right-hand comer is 
the southeast \ of section 8 
of township 3 north in range 
3 west. The 40 acres marked 
NE I NW j is the northeast 
1 of the northwest \ of sec¬ 
tion 8 of township 3 north in 
range 3 west. 



















196 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


correction lines , from which the survey began again as from the original 
base line (see diagram II). 

Each township is divided into sections one mile square, and therefore 
containing 640 acres each. These sections are numbered in each township 
from 1 to 36 as indicated in diagram III. Each section is further sub¬ 
divided into halves and quarters, which are designated as in diagram IV. 

This government survey has been made only in the “public 
lands” (see below, p. 197). It is still being carried on by the 
General Land Office of the Department of the Interior. In 
1917 more than 10,000,000 acres, or nearly 16,000 square miles, 
were surveyed. In June, 1926, there still remained unsurveyed 



Courtesy American Magazine of Art. 

“Surveying the Land” 

After a painting by Frank D. Miller. 


more than 800,000 square miles of public land, 590,000 of which 
were in Alaska and 230,000 in the United States proper. In 
the original thirteen states along the Atlantic seaboard a similar 
survey has been made, but either by private enterprise or under 
the authority of the state or county governments. Massa¬ 
chusetts has recently spent a large sum of money in a new survey 
of the state for the purpose of verifying and correcting doubtful 
boundaries. 

Has your father a deed to the land you live on? If so, ask him to show 
it to you and explain it. How is the land described? 

At the first convenient time, make a visit to the office of the recorder of 
deeds in your county, and ask to have some of the records shown and 
explained to you, preferably the record of the property you occupy. Where 



THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND 


197 


is the office of the recorder? (A visit of this sort should be in company 
with the teacher or parent. A class excursion for this and other purposes 
may well be arranged for.) 

What is a mortgage? An. abstract of title? (Consult parents.) 

Is the Torrens System in use in your state? 

Is your state a “public land state”? 

From the deed to your father’s land, or from the records in the recorder’s 
office, or from a map of your county showing the survey lines, locate the land 
you live on, as indicated in the accompanying diagrams. 

In what section and township is your schoolhouse? 

Are there still any “public lands” in your state? 

Are the boundary lines of farms in your neighborhood regular or irregular? 
How does this happen? 

Do you know of any boundary disputes between farmers or other citizens 
in your community? What machinery of government exists to settle such 
disputes? 

At the close of the Revolutionary War, the territory of the 
United States extended west as far as the Mississippi River. 
That part of this territory which lay west of the The public 
Allegheny Mountains had been claimed by seven lands 
of the thirteen states that formed the Union; but soon after 
the war they ceded these western possessions to the United 
States, having received a promise from Congress that these 
lands, which were largely unoccupied at the time, should be 
disposed of “for the common benefit of the United States .” They 
thus became public lands; that is, they belonged to the people 
of the nation as a whole. The common interest in these public 
lands was one of the chief influences that kept the thirteen 
states united under one government during the troubled times 
between the close of the Revolution and the adoption of the 
Constitution in 1789. As time went on, the public lands of the 
nation were increased by the acquisition of new territory. 1 
Of the 3,600,000 square miles comprising the United States and 

1 Louisiana Territory was acquired in 1803, Oregon in 1805, Florida in 1812 and 
1819, Texas in 1845, California and New Mexico in 1846-48, the Gadsden Purchase 
in 1853, Alaska in 1867. 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


198 


Alaska more than three fourths has at some time been public 
land; but of this there now remain, exclusive of Alaska, only 
about 306,000 square miles, much of which is forest and mineral 
land, unsuitable for agriculture. 

To turn this great domain with all its resources to the fullest 
service of the nation has been one of the greatest problems 
Disposal of with which our government has had to deal. In 
the public the early part of our history various plans were 
tried by which to secure the occupancy and develop¬ 
ment of the agricultural lands by farmers, until in 1862 the first 
Homestead Act was passed by Congress. 


About 10,000,000 acres of the public land were given to soldiers who 
fought in the Revolution and in the War of 1812 in recognition of their 
service to their country. About 60,000,000 acres were later given to 
veterans of the Mexican War. 

Until the year 1800 the plan in use for the disposition of the public lands 
was to sell large areas to colonizing companies, with the expectation that 
these companies would find settlers to whom they would sell the land in small 
quantities at a profit. This was not successful, as actual settlers found it 
difficult to get land they wanted at prices they could afford. 

From 1800 to 1820 lands were sold in small areas on credit. Many bought 
more than they were able to pay for, and much land so disposed of had to 
be taken back by the government. 

In 1820 a third plan was adopted: That of selling land for cash in any 
quantity to any purchaser. This led to speculation, individuals and com¬ 
panies of individuals buying recklessly, without intention of actual settle¬ 
ment, but with the purpose of selling again at a profit. This brought on a 
financial panic in 1837. 

Then followed the “preemption ” plan, by which actual settlers could 
“preempt” land (get the first right to it) by merely taking possession and 
paying a cash price of $1.25 an acre. 

The Homestead Act of 1862 was an extension of the preemption plan; 
but instead of paying a cash price, the settler could acquire the land merely 
by living on it for a period of five years (now three) and paying fees of 
about $40.00. 


The Homestead Act, like earlier laws, made a direct appeal 
to men’s desire to earn a living, to acquire property, and espe- 


THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND 


199 


dally to own homes. It has been modified from time to time, 
but in all essentials it still remains in force and provides that 
any citizen of the United States who has reached the Homestead 
age of twenty-one, or who is the head of a family, Acts 
may acquire a farm on condition of living upon it for a period 
of three years, cultivating the land and erecting a dwelling, and 



Homesteaders’ Shanties in South Dakota 


paying to the government a small fee. The size of the farm 
that he may so acquire varies according to the nature of the 
land, but the usual homestead on good agricultural land is 
limited to 160 acres. 

The purpose of the government has been to encourage actual settlement in 
order to secure the development of the nation’s resources, and for this 
purpose to allow each settler enough land to enable him to support a family 
in comfort. It was decided that 160 acres of good farm land was enough. 

Some portions of the public land, however, are less productive than 
others. Where the rainfall is slight and where irrigation is impracticable, 
and yet where crops can be raised by the “dry farming” process, the law 
allows a settler to take 320 acres. 

A settler may also obtain 320 acres in the “desert lands” of some of the 
western states. These lands may be made productive by irrigation, but the 



200 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 



settler must construct his own irrigation system. Originally 640 acres 
were allowed in such lands, but the amount has been reduced to 320 acres, 
and the Commissioner of the General Land Office now recommends (1916) 
that it be further reduced to 160 acres. 

In those parts of the desert region which the government has already 
reclaimed by irrigation (see p. 213), thus making the land extremely 
fruitful, the amount usually allowed a settler is from 40 to 80 acres. 


A Homestead on Irrigated Land in Idaho 
Desert land in foreground. From U. S. Reclamation Service. 

There are regions where the land is suitable only for stock raising and for 
forage crops. Here Congress has decided that 640 acres is a fair amount 
for the support of a family. 

Lands that are valuable for their timber and mineral resources are 
disposed of on different terms, but on somewhat the same principle. 

At the close of the war in 1918 a plan was proposed by the 
Secretary of the Interior to secure the occupation of land by 
Reclamation returning soldiers. Since the lands suitable for 
of lands farming in their natural state have practically all 
by soldiers b een disposed 0 f ? the plan contemplates the recla¬ 
mation of arid and swamp lands, and of land from which the 





THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND 


201 


forests have been cut but which are still covered with stumps. 
It is proposed that returned soldiers shall be employed by the 
government in the work of reclaiming the land, and that those 
who desire to become farmers may buy their farms in the re¬ 
claimed lands at a reasonable price, and with a period of thirty 
or forty years in which to pay for them. The Secretary of the 
Interior said: “This plan does not contemplate anything like 
charity to the soldier. ... He is not to be made to feel that 
he is a dependent. On the contrary, he is to continue in a sense 
in the service of the Government. Instead of destroying our 
enemies he is to develop our resources.” Much of the land 
whose reclamation by and for returning soldiers is thus con¬ 
templated is not now public land, but is lying idle in the hands 
of private owners. 

The state of California has recently enacted a law known as 
the Land Settlement Act, which provides for “a demonstration 
in planned rural development.” “Its first idea is Land settle . 
educational, to show what democracy in action ment in 
can accomplish.” Under the terms of this act the Callforma 
state acting through a Land Settlement Board and with the 
cooperation of experts from the University of California, has 
purchased several thousand acres of land at Durham, in Butte 
County, which it sells to settlers on easy terms. It also lends 
money to settlers for improvement and equipment for the 
farmers. 

The California Land Settlement Act is significant, because it eliminates 
speculation, it aims to create fixed communities by anticipating and pro¬ 
viding those things essential to early and enduring success. 

Another feature is the use it makes of cooperation. The settlers are at 
the outset brought into close business and social relations. It reproduces 
the best feature of the New England town meeting, as every member of the 
community has a share in the discussions and planning for the general 
welfare. This influence in rural life has been lacking in new communities 
in recent years. In the great movement of people westward with its profligate 
disposal of public land, settlement became migratory and speculative. 


202 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Every man was expected to look out for himself. Rural neighborhoods 
became separated into social and economic strata. There was the non¬ 
resident landowner; the influential resident landowner; the tenant, aloof 
and indifferent to community improvements; and, below that, the farm 
laborer who had no social status and who in recent years, because of lack 
of opportunity and social recognition, has migrated into the cities where he 
could have independence and self-respect, or has degenerated into a hobo. 

At Durham, for the first time in American land settlement, the farm 
laborer who works for wages is recognized as having as useful and valuable 
a part in rural economy as the farm owner. The provisions made for his 
home are intended to give to his wife and children comfort, independence, 
and self-respect; in other words, the things that help create character and 
sustain patriotism. The farm laborers’ homes already built are one of the 
most attractive features of the settlement; and when the community mem¬ 
bers gather together, as they do, to discuss matters that affect the progress 
of the settlement, or to arrange for cooperative buying and selling, the farm 
laborer and his family are active and respected members of the meetings. 

From maps in school histories study the claims of the seven states to 
western lands (see p. 197 above). 

What is the Ordinance of 1787? 

Make reports on the circumstances connected with our various territorial 
acquisitions. 

From whom did the colonists get the right to the land in the original 
thirteen colonies? 

Do you know any one who has ever taken up a “homestead claim”? If 
so, learn how it was done. 

If possible, get a description of a “land lottery” and a “land rush” in 
newly opened public lands. 

Get all the information you can about the plan to provide land for the 
soldiers, referred to above. Do you think this is a better plan than that 
of giving land to soldiers outright? Why? Is your state likely to co¬ 
operate with the national government in carrying out this plan? How? 

The policy of the government of disposing of the public 
lands to individuals has of course been of great benefit to the 
The nation’s l atter ; but we should not lose sight of the fact that 
interests the national well-being is the first consideration. 

As the Commissioner of the General Land Office 
said in a recent report (1916), “Every acre of public land dis- 


THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND 


203 


posed of under this line of legislation is an investment , the 
profits to be found in the general development of the welfare 
of the nation at large.” 

It has been no simple matter to administer our public lands, 
and mistakes have been made. Sometimes the interests of 
individuals have not been sufficiently safeguarded, safeguarding 
Many settlers have suffered serious loss, and many the interests 
promising communities have failed, through the of indlvlduals 
taking of homesteads in regions of little rainfall, as in western 
Kansas and Nebraska. The government now seeks to protect 
homesteaders against such errors by distinguishing carefully 
between lands suitable for ordinary agriculture and those suit¬ 
able only for dry-farming and stock-raising, by informing pro¬ 
spective settlers in regard to the facts, and by allowing larger 
entries in lands of the latter classes (see p. 199). Another 
mistake was made in allowing many of the first claimants to 
stock-raising lands so to locate their claims as to acquire the 
exclusive use of the only available water supply for miles around, 
thus making useless other large tracts. This might have been 
avoided by a little foresight. 

On the other hand, the land laws have sometimes been 
abused. Large quantities of public land have fallen into the 
hands of speculators whose purpose is not to develop Abuse of 
its resources, but to make a profit from the in- land laws 
creased value of the land due to the efforts of others (see p. 
18). Immense areas of land have thus been withheld from 
production, or have been made to produce to a limited extent 
only, to the great loss of the nation. 

In the days of transcontinental railroad building, large tracts 
of land were given to the railroad companies by the government, 
with the expectation that they would dispose of it Railroad 
at reasonable prices to settlers attracted by the lands 
new transportation facilities, and would use the proceeds in 
railway development. In fact, however, large quantities of 


204 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


this land have been held in an unproductive state for speculative 
purposes. 

An illustration of this is the case of the Oregon and California Railroad 
land grant, made by Congress in 1869 and 1870, and comprising more than 
4,200,000 acres, most of which bore a heavy growth of valuable timber. 
“This railroad grant . . . contained a special provision to the effect that 
the railroad company should sell the land it received to actual settlers only, 
in quantities not greater than one-quarter section to one purchaser and at a 
price not exceeding $2.50 an acre. By this precaution it was intended that 
in aiding the construction of the railroad an immediate impetus should 
also be given to the settlement and development of the country through 
which the road was to be constructed.” 

After selling some of the lands according to the terms of the agreement, 
the railroad company ceased to live up to these terms and sold large bodies 
of the land to lumber interests, thus putting a stop to the development of 
the region in the way intended by the government. The government 
brought action against the railroad company, the outcome of which is that 
the government has bought back from the company at $2.50 an acre all of the 
lands of the grant which remained unsold, amounting to about 2,300,000 acres 
and valued at from $30,000,000 to $50,000,000. 

These lands are being classified “in accordance with their chief value, 
either in power-site lands, timber lands, or agricultural lands,” and are to be 
disposed of accordingly. The timber will be sold separately from the land, 
and the land will then be opened to homestead entry. 

By this arrangement the railroad company gets for the land all that 
it was entitled to under the terms of the original grant. In addition, 
provision is made for the payment to the counties in which the land 
lies of the taxes which the railroad company has not paid. As the 
lands are sold, the proceeds are to be divided between the state and 
the United States, the state receiving 50 per cent, 40 per cent being 
paid into the general reclamation fund of the United States (see Chapter 
XIV, p. 213), and 10 per cent into the general funds of the United States 
Treasury. 

(From the Report of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, 1916, 
pp. 46-49-) 

This is a striking illustration of how our government, acting through Con¬ 
gress, the Courts, and the General Land Office of the Department of the 
Interior, has sought to obtain justice for all parties concerned, and to fulfill 
the original purpose of securing the development of the land in the interest of 
the state and the nation. 


THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND 


205 


Something like 202,000,000 acres of our public lands have 
from time to time been turned over to the states, the proceeds 
to be used for the promotion of public education, Landg for 
for the construction of roads, and for other pur- public 
poses (see Chapters XVII and XIX). In some schools 
cases these lands have not been used altogether for the purposes 
for which they were granted. School lands have sometimes been 
sold at a nominal price to individuals who have reaped the 
profit, whereas the lands might have been so administered by 
the states as to have brought large returns for educational 
purposes. In some cases, state officials have made unwise 
investments of the funds derived from the sale of the lands, 
thereby losing them for the use of the state. 

The control, or “monopolizing,” of the public land by large 
holders is said to be one of the causes of increasing tenantry 
(Chapter X, p. 116); for as the available supply Land monop . 
of desirable farming land is diminished, the actual oly and 
home-seeker is driven to take less productive lands, tenantr y 
or to purchase from the large holders at a higher price. The 
more recent land laws limit the amount of public land that an 
individual may acquire to an area sufficient to enable him to 
make a comfortable living for a family (see above, p. 199). 
They also exact from the homesteader an agreement that he 
will actually occupy and cultivate the land. 

The responsibility for the defects in our methods of admin¬ 
istering the public lands rests in part upon our governmental 
representatives, who have not always dealt wisely Responsibility 
with the extremely difficult problem. But it rests for land 
also upon each individual citizen. There are frauds 
those, be it said to our shame, who deliberately seek to defeat 
the purpose of the laws and to appropriate to their own selfish 
uses the lands which belong to the nation as a whole. There 
is one division of the General Land Office in Washington known 
as the Inspection Service. Before it come, not only the ordinary 


206 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 



disputes that are likely to arise between rival claimants, but 
also cases of alleged fraud and violation of the land laws. In 
1926 inspectors investigated and reported over 16,000 cases. 
As a result over 120,000 acres were restored to the public do¬ 
main. But the responsibility comes much closer home than 
this. Many of us who would not think of violating the law 


Fraudulent Land Claims 

The land shown in the illustrations was claimed under the Homestead Act as 
agricultural land. It bore many thousands of dollars worth of valuable timber. 

have failed to appreciate the value of the gifts that nature has 
given us, and have apparently been “too busy” to inform our¬ 
selves as to whether or not our public lands have been admin¬ 
istered solely for the purpose to which Congress devoted them 
just after the Revolution (see p. 197). This, like every other 
matter of community interest, requires team work. 

The community has certain rights to a citizen’s land that 
are clearly recognized as superior to the citizen’s rights. Acting 
through its government, it may take a part of a citizen’s property 











THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND 


207 


by taxation (see Chapter XXIII). Taxes are paid in money; 
but if a citizen does not pay the tax upon his land, the govern¬ 
ment may sell the land for enough to cover the obligation. 

Again, the government may take a citizen’s land for public 
uses, if the interests of the community demand it, by what is 
called the right of eminent domain. For example, The right 
if the interests of the community demand that a of eminent 
new road be built, the government will seek to buy domain 
the necessary land from the farmers along the line of the pro¬ 
posed highway. Some farmer may say that he does not want 
the road to run through his farm, or he may try to get a price 
beyond what his land is worth. The government may then 
condemn the required land and fix a price despite the farmer’s 
objections. The citizen whose land is taken must, however, be 
paid for it; the Constitution of the United States protects him 
by the provision, “nor shall private property be taken for public 
use without just compensation ” (Amendment V, last clause). 

The right of eminent domain may be exercised to secure a 
site for a schoolhouse, a post-office, an army post, or court¬ 
house, or for any other public purpose. The government also 
authorizes corporations that perform a public service to exer¬ 
cise the right, as in the case of railroads which must obtain a 
right of way for their tracks, and sites for their yards and stations. 

Finally, by the exercise of what is known as the police power , 
the government may control the use to which a citizen may 
put his land. Occasion for the exercise of the The police 
police power arises most frequently in cities, where power of the 
it is necessary to control the construction of build- government 
ings for fire protection, and to regulate the kinds of business 
that may be conducted. In country districts it does not 
usually make so much difference what a man does on his own 
land; but even there the police power may be exercised, as 
when the state of Idaho passed a law forbidding the herding of 
sheep within a certain distance of towns. 


208 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


There is another way in which government establishes rela¬ 
tions between the people and the land. Citizens of the United 
Political States have certain political rights and duties, such 
relations with as voting, holding office, and paying taxes. These 
rights may be enjoyed and the duties performed 
only within certain districts which the government creates 
for this purpose. Thus, a citizen has a right to vote within the 
state where he lives, but not in any other state. He must cast 
his vote within his own county, township, and precinct. The 
boundaries of the states are established by the national govern¬ 
ment (except the original thirteen states of the Union, whose 
boundaries were fixed before the national government was 
organized); but they may not be changed afterward without 
the consent of the states affected. The states organize their 
own counties and townships 1 and other districts. Villages and 
cities are granted definite boundaries by the state, and organize 
themselves into wards and precincts. There are legislative, 
congressional, judicial, and revenue districts, the boundaries of 
which are fixed by state and national governments. Locally, 
there are school districts. The boundaries which separate one 
nation from another are determined by agreement, or treaty, 
between the nations concerned. Uncertainty or indefiniteness 
in regard to national boundary lines has been the cause of much 
international strife, and was an important factor in the Euro¬ 
pean war begun by Germany in 1914. 

If you live in a “public land” state, for what uses have public lands 
been given to the state? Have the school lands in your state been wisely 
used? 

Is it easy for a young man to acquire a farm in your locality? to keep 
up improvements on a farm that he owns ? Has it been easy for a farmer 
in your locality to borrow money? (Consult parents and friends.) 

Have the farmers of your locality made much use of the Federal Farm 
Loan Act ? Do they think it is a good law ? 

1 In the public land states the political township usually, but not always, corre¬ 
sponds with the township surveyed by the national government. See pp. 194-196. 


THE PEOPLE AND THE LAND 


209 


Have you heard of forced sales of land in your community to pay taxes? 

Do you know of cases of the exercise of the right of eminent domain in 
your community? For what purposes? Was it exercised by local, state, 
or national government? 

In what ways does government control the use to which you may put the 
land on which you live ? 

In what township do you live? school district? congressional dis¬ 
trict? state legislative district? revenue district? 

READINGS 

Annual reports of the Secretary of the Interior. 

Annual reports of the Commissioner of the General Land Office, Department of the 
Interior, Washington. 

The General Land Office has published a large wall map showing the land surveys, 
the national forests, and many other important items. It may be secured from 
the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, 
for $1. 

See the New International Encyclopedia and the Encyclopedia Americana on 
public lands, national forests, and other topics referred to in this chapter. 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series A: Lesson 4, What nature has done for a typical city. 


CHAPTER XV 


CONSERVING OUR NATURAL RESOURCES 

In the preceding chapter we learned that as a nation we 
have not been altogether thrifty in the disposal and use of 
Resources of our public lands. The same thing will have to be 
the soil said regarding the use of the resources of the land, 
of which the soil is by far the most valuable. 

It is said that 1200 boys in Ohio, organized in clubs, increased 
the average yield of corn from 35 bushels to 81 bushels per 
acre. The average returns per acre from the soil of the United 
States were lower before the war than in any European country, 
except Russia. The following table gives the production per 
acre of four cereals in the United States and five European 
countries in 1925. The same relative position of the United 
States would be shown if we took the average production of 
these countries for a series of years. 


Production in Bushels per Acre under Cultivation 
in 1925 1 



Wheat 

Oats 

Barley 

Rye 

United States . . . 

12.8 

33-3 

26.4 

11.9 

France . . . . . 

23-9 

38.2 

27.6 

20.6 

British Isles .... 

33-9 

51.8 

35-2 

— 

Austria. 

24.6 

42.7 

30.1 

26.0 

Germany .... 

30.8 

45 -i 

33-7 

27-3 

Belgium. 

37-2 

53-5 

46.3 

36.7 


1 Compiled from tables in the Year Book of the Department of Agriculture. 


210 

















CONSERVING OUR NATURAL RESOURCES 


211 


The low position of the United States in agriculture is by no 
means due to inferior ability on the part of the Ability of the 
American farmer. The Secretary of Agriculture American 
says that farmer 

Even now no farmer in the world can compare with the American farmer 
in agricultural efficiency. His adaptability to new and changing conditions, 
to the use of improved machinery and processes, coupled with the great 
natural resources with which the nation is endowed, make him far superior 
to any of his competitors. It is true that he does not produce more per 
acre than the farmers of some other nations. Production per acre, however, 
is not the American standard. The standard is the amount of production 
for each person engaged in agriculture, and by this test the American 
farmer appears to be from two to six times as efficient as most of his 
competitors. 

As long as we had a great abundance of unoccupied land it 
would perhaps have been uneconomic to increase the produc¬ 
tion of that which was occupied by the costly Wastefu i ness 
methods of agriculture used in Belgium, Germany, of early 
and other thickly settled countries. But the old farming 
methods of farming not only failed to get from the soil all that 
it was then capable of producing, they also robbed it of fertility 
without restoring to it what was taken from it. Thus the loss 
caused by wasteful methods was passed on to future generations. 
To continue such methods in the light of our present knowledge 
and with our growing population is thriftless in the extreme. 
Methods of preserving and restoring the fertility of the soil 
and of obtaining the largest returns from it are now receiving 
the most careful attention from both state and national 
governments. 

A great deal of land lies idle that might be productive of 
food — not only arid, swamp, and cut-over lands, mentioned 
in later paragraphs, and land held for speculation, 
but also vacant lots and unused back yards in cities 
and villages, and waste or unused portions of cultivated farms. 
It is largely from city village lots that the School Garden 


212 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 



Army obtained its remarkable results. It is astonishing how 
many farmers buy instead of raising their vegetables for the 
table, as well as feed for their stock. 

Texas, for instance, has purchased $200,000,000 worth of food products 
yearly from northern markets which might have been produced more 
cheaply at home. It takes 15 to 20 acres of land in Texas to grow cotton 
enough to buy 160 bushels of canned sweet potatoes, while one acre of 
Texas soil would produce the same quantity, and uncanned. 1 


Desert Land 

Covered with sagebrush; capable of irrigation. U. S. Reclamation Service. 

Such topics as the following should be studied, consulting parents, farmers 
of the locality, and such printed sources of information as are available. 

The important cereal crops of your state. The average yield per acre 
of each. Increase or decrease in yield in recent years. 

The work of com clubs and other boys’ and girls’ clubs to increase the 
yield of crops in your state. 

1 Thrift, a monograph published by the National Education Association, 1918. 



CONSERVING OUR NATURAL RESOURCES 213 

The difference between “production per acre” and “production per 
person engaged in agriculture” (see p. 211). 

The difference between “intensive” and “extensive” agriculture. 

“Single crop” and “diversified crop” types of agriculture in your 
locality. Advantages of each. 

Extent to which farmers of your locality raise their own table vegetables 
and stock feed. 

Evidence furnished by your town, or neighboring towns, during the war, 
of the wealth-producing power of vacant lots or unused back-yards. 

Much of our public land has been non-productive solely 
because of the lack of moisture. In 1902 a law known as the 
Reclamation Act was passed by Congress, providing Rec i amat i on 
that the proceeds from the sale of public lands in of arid 
states containing arid regions, 1 except such as were lands 
already devoted to educational and other public purposes, 
should be used for the construction and maintenance of irriga¬ 
tion works. This reclamation work is in charge of The Bureau 
of Reclamation, Department of the Interior, whose engineers 
have built great dams and reservoirs from which the water has 
been led by canals and ditches into the desert. By 1926 more 
than 1,300,000 acres had been irrigated under this act, the crop 
value in that year reaching $77,000,000. The reclaimed land 
is disposed of to actual settlers in accordance with the home¬ 
stead laws (see p. 199), each homesteader repaying the govern¬ 
ment in annual installments the cost of reclaiming the land 
he occupies. The fund so created is used by the government 
for further reclamation projects. The Department of Agri¬ 
culture sends its experts to advise with the farmers in regard to 
the problems peculiar to the reclaimed regions. “ Every effort 
should be and is, therefore, being made to promote the success of 
the farmer, and on the basis of his success to increase the pros¬ 
perity of the country.” 2 

1 The states to which this law applies are Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, 
Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, 
Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. See map. 

2 Report of the Reclamation Service, 1*912-1913, p. 4. 


214 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


The Yuma project in Arizona opened a new Valley of the Nile where four 
crops of alfalfa are now raised on what once were arid lands. The streets 
of Yuma and Somerton are crowded with the automobiles of farmers, 
enriched by thousands of acres of splendid long-staple cotton, alfalfa, corn, 
and feterita. Another irrigated valley in Arizona, that of the Salt River, has 
few superiors in the world and has come in three years into great prosperity. 
Arizona planted to cotton last year 92,000 acres. Its crop was 96 per cent 
perfect, the best record in the United States. 1 



Oats Harvested in Reclaimed Desert Land, Wyoming 
U. S. Reclamation Service. 

The principal irrigation projects of The Bureau of Reclama¬ 
tion are shown on the accompanying map. 

Five or six times as much arid land has been reclaimed by 
private enterprise as by the Reclamation Service. 
The first extensive irrigation project in the West 
was a cooperative enterprise by the Mormon colo¬ 
nists in Utah. It is said that about two fifths 

1 Arthur D. Little, “Developing the Estate,” Atlantic Monthly, March, 1919. 


Reclamation 
by states 
and private 
enterprise 




CONSERVING OUR NATURAL RESOURCES 


215 


of the land irrigated in the United States is supplied with 
water by works built and controlled by individual farmers or 
by a few neighbors, while another one third is supplied by 
stock companies. As early as 1877 Congress passed “a desert 



Principal Reclamation Service Projects in the Western States 


land law,” by which homesteads were granted in the arid lands 
on condition that the settlers should irrigate the land. In 1894 
the Carey Act was passed by Congress under which the national 
government may give to a state as much as a million acres of 
arid public land within its borders, on condition that the state 
provides for its irrigation. The work is done by private stock 
companies, with whom the state makes a contract for the pur- 








2 l 6 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


pose. The most extensive irrigation project undertaken by 
private enterprise is that of the Imperial Valley in California, 
which derives its water from the Colorado River. Under the 
laws of California the Imperial Valley region has been organized 
as an “irrigation district,” with power to levy taxes for the de¬ 
velopment and support of the irrigation work. Each state in 
which irrigation is practiced has its own laws regulating the use 
of water by farmers and other consumers. 

The theory is that the state regulates the appropriation of the water, 
exercising this power and holding the land in trust for the public. ... It is 
the duty of every state to which the Reclamation Act is applicable to assist 
with every resource under its control. 1 

Reference has been made in Chapter XIV to the proposed 
plan for the reclamation and settlement of new areas of arid 
land by returning soldiers. 

There are probably 80,000,000 acres of swamp lands in the 

United States which could be made productive by drainage. 

Farmers themselves could reclaim much of this 
Swamp lands . . -in ... 

land at comparatively small cost, greatly increasing 

their own profit and the wealth of the country. 

One farm in Wisconsin has 40 acres of poorly drained land that in its 
present condition is practically worthless. $25.00 per acre spent in drainage 
will make this 40-acre tract the equal of any in the district, and good land 
is selling there at $150.00 per acre. 2 

The national government has at various times granted to the 
states swamp lands aggregating 64,000,000 acres, with the ex¬ 
pectation that the states would reclaim them. The states 
have, however, done very little to fulfill the expectation. These 
swamp lands are among those whose reclamation by returning 
soldiers is proposed by the government. 

1 Water Supply Paper, 234, U. S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, 

p. 66. 

2 “Unprofitable Acres,” in Year Book, Department of Agriculture, 1915, p. 147. 


CONSERVING OUR NATURAL RESOURCES 


217 


Investigate and report on the following topics: 

The work of The Bureau of Reclamation of the national government. 

If you live in one of the states to which the Reclamation Act applies, 
report on what has been accomplished by it in your state. 

The development of one of the irrigation projects shown on the map 
(p. 215). 

Irrigation by private or state enterprise in your state (if any), and 
what it has accomplished. 



Yakima Reclamation Project, Washington 
U. S. Reclamation Service. 


The reclamation of Utah by the Mormons. 

The development of the Imperial Valley of California. 

The laws regulating the use of water for irrigation in your state (if an 
irrigated state). 

The swamp areas in your locality or state. Progress made in their 
reclamation. 

The reclamation of swamp or marshy land on particular farms of your 
locality. 










2l8 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


The extent of idle cut-over land in your locality, why it is idle, the uses 
to which it could be put if reclaimed. 

By the construction of dams, reservoirs, and canals the waters 
of a few of our streams are turned to the work of reclaiming 
Conservation l an( h Our unused water resources are very great, 
of water Niagara Falls have been harnessed for industrial 

power uses, and with only a small part of their power in 

use they light the streets and houses, run the street cars, and 
turn the wheels of industry in Buffalo and Toronto and the 
neighboring region. But so far we are making use of less than 
ioper cent of the power easily available from our streams. “The 
water now flowing idly from our hills to the sea could turn every 
factory wheel and every electric generator, operate our railroads, 
and still leave much energy to spare for new developments.” 1 
It is probably not too much to expect that when our undeveloped 
water power is utilized it will provide electric light and power 
for every farm in the land. Our nation has allowed many of 
the best water power sites of the country to fall into the hands 
of private speculators who hold them undeveloped, as in the 
case of farm lands, forests, and other resources. 

Floods are not only immensely destructive of property, 
causing a loss of $200,000,000 along the Mississippi river 

Conservation alone in a sin S le Y ear > but they carry to the sea 
of flood water that might be used for irrigation and for 
industry. Reservoirs, such as are built for irri¬ 
gating projects, regulate the flow of water in streams and pre¬ 
vent floods. In New England and New York reservoirs have 
been built for this very purpose, and probably 10 per cent of 
the flood waters that originate in these states is saved in this 
way and turned to industrial uses. Similar conservation of 
flood waters occurs in Minnesota, but it is estimated that for 
the country as a whole not more than one per cent of the flood 

1 Arthur D. Little, “Developing the Estate,” Atlantic Monthly, March, 1919, 
p. 388. 



CONSERVING OUR NATURAL RESOURCES 219 

waters is saved . 1 There are areas in which the reservoir system 
is impracticable, as in the lower Mississippi Valley. Here all 
that can be done is to protect the adjacent land by means of 
levees while controlling the floods farther up the valley. 

Larger use of water power would conserve another valuable 
resource — coal. Of this fuel we have vast resources — “in 


Roosevelt Dam — Salt River Project 
U. S. Reclamation Service. 

West Virginia alone more than Great Britain and Germany 
combined.” But the supply is not inexhaustible Fuel 
and we are mining it and using it in an extravagant resources 
manner. The loss here is not merely of heat and power and 
light, but of many valuable products of coal, including dyes, 
ammonia, vaseline, and many others. 

1 “Conservation of Water Resources,” Water Supply Paper 234, U. S. Geological 
Survey, 1919. 





220 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 



Floods are increasing in the United States. This is due 
chiefly to the destruction of our forests by wasteful lumbering 
Destruction and by fire. In forested areas the ground absorbs 
by floods the rainfall more easily, while in areas barren of 

trees and other vegetation it runs off the surface. The destruc¬ 
tion of the forests, therefore, involves not only the loss of the 


Main Canal, Tieton Canon, Yakima Project 
U. S. Reclamation Service. 

timber, but also the loss caused by the floods, including the 
washing away of the soil. 

In 1891 Congress authorized the President to establish 
“forest reserves/’ the first to be created being the “Yellowstone 
The forest Park Timberland Reserve.” From time to time 
reserves new reserves were established, and in 1907 the 
name was changed to the National Forests. In 1927, more 
than 184 million acres were included within the National Forest 
boundaries, 25 million acres of which, however, belonged to 



CONSERVING OUR NATURAL RESOURCES 


221 



private owners. They are administered by the Forest Service 
of the Department of Agriculture, at the head of which 
is the Chief Forester. They are grouped in eight districts 
with a district forester in charge of each. Over each of the 
160 forests in the seven districts there is a forest supervisor; 
and each forest is further subdivided into ranger districts under 


Applying Water to the Land — Direct Irrigation 
Government Farm, Grand Valley Project. U. S. Reclamation Service. 

district rangers who not only look after timber sales and the 
use of the forests generally, but also “help build roads, trails, 
bridges, telephone lines, and other permanent improvements.” 

A ranger must naturally be sound in body, for he is called upon to work 
for long periods in all kinds of weather. He must also know how to pack 
supplies and find food for himself and his horse in a country where it is often 
scarce. Besides a written test, prospective rangers are examined in compass 
surveying, timber work, and the handling of horses. 1 

1 “Government Forest Work,” Forest Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

P- IS- 









222 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


There are also employed in the Forests great numbers of log¬ 
ging engineers, lumbermen, scalers, planting assistants, guards, 
and others. In the great war, the Forest Service raised two regi¬ 
ments of men who went to France to assist in the various 
kinds of forestry work necessitated by the war. 

The purpose of the Forest Service is to secure the use of the 
forests “in such a way that they will yield all their resources 
Work of to ^ u ^ est extent without exhausting them, for 
the Forest the benefit primarily of the home builder. The 
controlling policy is serving the public while con¬ 
serving the forests.” 1 Timber is cut and sold, but always 
with a view to developing future growth. The forests are 
protected against fire. Burned-over areas are reforested by 
planting. Water power sites are protected. The freest pos¬ 
sible use of forest pasture land is permitted, but under such 
regulations as to prevent injury to the forests and the denuda¬ 
tion of the land by overgrazing. In 1915, nine million cattle, 
horses, sheep, and goats were pastured in the forests. Since 1915 
more than 47 million dollars have been spent by the Federal 
government in building 13,000 miles of national forest roads. 

But our timber resources are not all in the 
National Forests, and the waste continues to an 
appalling extent. 


Waste of 

timber 

resources 


The United States contains 331,000,000 acres of cut-over or denuded 
forests containing no saw timber; 81,000,000 acres of this amount have been 
completely devastated by forest fires and methods of cutting which destroy 
or prevent new timber growth. . . . Forest fires in the United States from 
1916 to 1925 have caused damage averaging $20,994,000 a year. 2 


The Clarke-McNary law of 1924 provides for Federal coopera¬ 
tion with states for forest protection. It authorizes an annual 
appropriation by Congress of $2,500,000 for aid to the states in 

1 “The Status of Forestry in the United States,” Forest Service Circular 167, 
1909, p. 5. 

2 Government Forest Work, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Circular 211. 


CONSERVING OUR NATURAL RESOURCES 


223 


forest fire control, $100,000 for the distribution of forest plant¬ 
ing stock to the owners of farms, and $100,000 for assistance to 
farmers in managing their forest lands. This aid is given to 
states on condition that they spend an equal amount, as in the 
case of road building. In* 1925 the thirty states cooperating 
under this law protected approximately 182,000,000 acres of 
forest land. 

The nation has been defrauded of a great deal of wealth in 
timber by speculators who have taken advantage of the home¬ 
stead laws. 

s 

Single tracts of 160 acres often have a value for the timber alone of $20,000. 
. . . Lands acquired . . . under the guise of the homestead law are to-day 
in the hands of lumber companies who promptly purchased them from the 
settlers as soon as the title passed, and are either reserving them for later 
cutting or are holding the land itself after cutting for from $40 to $60 
an acre, or even more — a speculative process which effectively prevents 
the possibility of men of small means acquiring and establishing homes 
there. 1 

To prevent this sort of thing, the government now sells the 
timber and the land separately, withholding from agricultural 
entry heavily timbered land until the timber is cut off. 

In the Kaniksy National Forest, in Idaho and Washington, timber 
sales have been made to include much of the remaining agricultural timber- 
land. Within eight years fully 10,000 acres of land will be made available 
for settlement. Permanent homes will be established and there will be 
available for the use of the communities approximately $225,000 for roads 
and schools, their share of the proceeds from the sale of the timber. 2 

In 1924 a national conference on the utilization of forest products met 
in Washington. Over 400 representatives of timber-using industries, to¬ 
gether with foresters and engineers, prepared a program of attack on wasteful 
methods of marketing and using forest products. 

1 “The National Forests and the Farmer,” in Year Book , Department of Agri¬ 
culture, 1914, p. 70. 

2 Ibid., p. 71. 


224 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 




Unprofitable Acres Made Profitable in Massachusetts 



















CONSERVING OUR NATURAL RESOURCES 


225 


National Forests and State Forest Lands 1 


State 

National 


State Forest Land 


Forests 

Forests 

Parks 

Other 

Total 

Alabama. 

Acres 

120,404 

Acres 

Acres 

Acres 

175,000 

Acres 

175,000 

Arizona. 

11,234,670 

963,287 

— 

— 

36,790 

36,790 

Arkansas . 

— 

— 

— 

— 

California .... 

19,143,640 

— 

12,845 

50,000 

62,845 

Colorado. 

13.249,15° 

— 

— 

126,600 

126,600 

Connecticut .... 

— 

20,000 

7,000 

2,000 

29,000 

District of Columbia . 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Florida. 

342,771 

— 

1,920 

— 

1,920 

Georgia. 

238,538 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Idaho . 

19,071,962 

700,000 

7,200 

200,000 

907,200 

Illinois. 

10,710 

— 

1,220 

— 

1,220 

i 8,477 

Indiana. 

—■ 

3,547 

4,430 

10,500 

Iowa. 

— 

— 

7,000 

5,ooo 

12,000 

Kansas. 

— 

— 

245 

— 

245 

Kentucky .... 

22,660 

3,624 

— 

15,000 

18,624 

Louisiana .... 

— 

2,200 

— 

202,000 

204,200 

Maine. 

32,256 

IOO 

25 

330,000 

330,125 

Maryland .... 

4,725 

3,835 

— 

2,000 

48,000 

5,835 

Massachusetts . . . 

— 

97,000 

. 12,000 

157,000 

Michigan. 

126,762 

333 ,ooo 

7,745 

739 ,ooo 

1 , 079,745 

Minnesota .... 

991,106 

350,000 

38,279 

650,000 

1,038,279 

Missouri. 

— 

— 

25,500 

46,000 

7i,5oo 

Montana. 

15,872,610 

.566,000 

— 

— 

566,000 

Nebraska .... 

205,945 

— 

747 

500 

1,247 

Nevada . 

4,977,106 

— 

— 

— 


New Hampshire . . 

407,252 

20,538 

— 

575 

21,113 

38,954 

New Jersey .... 

6,785 

18,954 

16,000 

4,000 

New Mexico . . . 

8,482,315 

— 

83,212 

185,000 

185,000 

New York .... 

15,954 

2,026,741 

15,500 

2,125,453 

North Carolina . . 

365,658 

— 

1,724 

85,600 

87,324 

North Dakota . . . 

— 

— 

250 

17,300 

17,550 

Ohio. 

— 

33,773 

32,510 

22,900 

89,183 

Oklahoma .... 

61,480 

— 

— 

27,300 

27,300 

Oregon . 

13,199,388 

— 

640 

77,868 

78,508 

Pennsylvania . . . 

124,135 

1,131,885 

9 , 54 i 

2,624 

1,144,050 

Rhode Island . . . 

— 

— 

— 

— 

— 

South Carolina . . . 

39,748 

— 

— 

— 

— 

South Dakota . . . 

1,064,252 

— 

— 

80,000 

80,000 

Tennessee .... 

267,939 

— 

— 

22,110 

22,110 

56,182 

Texas . 

5,632 

550 

50,000 

Utah. 

7,455,070 

— 

160 

66,000 

66,000 

Vermont. 


30,504 

7 i 3 

3 i ,377 

Virginia. 

516,597 

588 

— 

1,500 

2,088 

Washington .... 

9,714,238 

40,763 

6,500 

1,200,000 

1,247,263 

West Virginia . . . 

219,125 

15,393 

— 

— 

15,393 

Wisconsin .... 

— 

97,000 

91,000 

150,000 

338,000 

Wyoming .... 

8,500,101 

— 

— 

23,000 

23,000 

Continental United 
States .... 

137,048,339 

5,501,077 

368,243 

4,670,380 

io, 539 , 7 oo 

Alaska. 

21,334,274 

— 

— 

— 

— 

Hawaii. 

— 

579,905 

— 

— 

579,905 

Porto Rico .... 

12,443 

40,000 

— 

30,000 

70,000 

Total .... 

158,395,056 

6,120,982 

368,243 

4,700,380 

11,189,605 


1 Year Book of the Department of Agriculture, 1925. 





































226 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


State forests 


Besides the National Forests, there are more than 10,500,000 
acres of state forests. Many states have their forestry depart¬ 
ments, sometimes under a state board or a commis¬ 
sion, sometimes under the control of a single state 
forester, as in Massachusetts and Virginia. In New York, New 
Jersey, and Wisconsin the state forestry is a part of the work of 
a general “conservation commission.” In Connecticut it is 
centered in the state agricultural experiment station, and in 
Texas in the agricultural college. So there is great variety in 
the organization of forestry work, and great variation in the 
amount and kind of attention given to it. 

The conservation of our forest resources requires cooperation 
on the part of citizens. In many states there are “timberland 
Voluntary owners’ fire protective associations,” in 1917 about 
Protective fifty of them. There is an American Forestry 
Associations Association that publishes a magazine devoted to 
forestry, American Forestry; a Society of American Foresters; 
The Camp Fire Club of America, with a committee on conserva¬ 
tion of forests and wild life. The American Tree Association 
assists in the promotion of needed forestry legislation. 

It is not always realized how important to our welfare the 
forests are, especially from the point of view of agricultural 
Erosion production. A very large part of the timbered 

area of the United States is in small woodlands on 
privately owned farms. Not only are the timber resources 
themselves of great value, but the relation of woodland to 
agriculture is very close, especially in its effect upon soil 
erosion. 


Altogether it has been estimated that erosion is responsible for an annual 
loss in this country of approximately $100,000,000. To the farmer it means 
money out of pocket from start to finish. It impairs the fertility and 
decreases the productivity of his land, and may even ruin it altogether; 
it renders irrigation more difficult and more costly; by reducing the possi¬ 
bilities of cheap water power development it tends to keep up the price and 





Result of Clear Cutting and Fires 
This land is too high in the mountain for agriculture. 


Erosion on a Steep Slope 
227 


Soil Washing as a Result of Overgrazing 









228 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


check the more extended use of electricity; and by interfering with navi¬ 
gation it helps to prevent the development of a comprehensive system of 
cheap inland water transportation. But the farmer is not the only sufferer. 
The entire community is directly affected by the loss and is justified in taking 
heroic measures to remedy the evil. 

If the problem is to be solved we must cease to accelerate surface run-off 
by burning the forests and brush fields, overgrazing the range, clearing steep 
slopes for agriculture, and practicing antiquated methods of cultivation. 
On the contrary, the farmer, the forester, and the stockman must cooperate 
in seeing that the land is so used that surface run-off, particularly at the 
higher elevations, is reduced to a minimum. 

Children in particular should have their interest actively aroused and 
their support enlisted. In one state, “gully clubs” have been organized 
by the state forester. These are composed largely of school children who 
take an active part in the work of gully reclamation and particularly in 
finding and checking incipient gullies before it is too late. Why could not 
such organizations as boy scouts, girl scouts, and campfire girls be used in 
the same way? 1 

Soil, water, and forests are only a few of the rich natural 
resources of our country, although they are among the most 
Mineral important. Great as the mineral production of 
resources our country now is, we have only begun to open 
the mineral storehouse. On the other hand, we have been 
extremely wasteful of some of our minerals, as in the case of 
natural gas, oil, and coal. The war has done more, perhaps, 
than anything else to open our eyes to our mineral wealth and 
to convict us of our wastefulness in the past. In the light of 
what it has shown us we should redouble our efforts to conserve 
our resources. Our government has been gradually developing 
a program of conservation which we should help to make effec¬ 
tive. At the end of this chapter will be found references to 
interesting accounts of our national wealth, and of what the 
government is doing to conserve it in other directions than 
those described in this chapter. Many of these references are 

1 Farms, Forests, and Erosion,” Year Book of the Department, of Agriculture; 
1916, pp. 107-134. 


CONSERVING OUR NATURAL RESOURCES 


22Q 



to publications issued by the government itself, which can be 
obtained for the asking. 

Investigate and report on: 

Losses in your state from periodic floods. Measures adopted or pro¬ 
posed to control them. 

The by-products of coal and of petroleum. 

The Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture. 


Harnessing the Mississippi 
Power House at Keokuk, Iowa. 

A description of your state forests (if any). 

Forestry in your own state, public and private. 

Losses from forest fires in your state. 

The life of a forest ranger. 

The use of the farm woodlot in your locality. 

The extent and effects of soil erosion in your locality or state. Measures 
taken to prevent it. 

The feasibility of “gully clubs” in your locality (see p. 228). 

The mineral resources of your state. Uses in war and peace. 

Game laws of your state. 








230 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


READINGS 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series A: Lesson 13, The United States Food Administration. 

Lesson 14, Substitute Foods. 

Series B: Lesson 5, Saving the soil. 

Lesson 6, Making dyes from coal tar. 

Lesson 9, How men made heat to work. 

Lesson 13, The Department of the Interior. 

Series C: Lesson 4, Petroleum and its uses. 

Lesson 5, Conservation as exemplified by irrigation projects. 

Lesson 6, Checking waste in the production and use of coal. 

Lesson 10, Iron and steel. 

Lesson 14, The United States Fuel Administration. 

Lesson 16, The Commercial Economy Board of the Council of Na¬ 
tional Defense. 

Reports of your State Agricultural College and Experiment Station, and of your 
State Geologist and other officers having to do with the natural resources of 
your state. 

Annual Reports of the Secretary of the Interior. That for 1915 (pp. 1-30) contains 
an interesting review of our natural resources and their use; also (pp. 151-209) 
a comprehensive and interesting discussion of our mineral resources and their 
development. That for 1918 contains an account of the plan for land reclama¬ 
tion by and for soldiers. 

Publications of the Geological Survey, the Bureau of Mines, and the Reclamation 
Service (all in the Department of the Interior), and of the Bureau of Fisheries 
(Department of Commerce). 

Publications of the Forestry Service (Department of Agriculture). 

Among the numerous publications of the Department of Agriculture may be men¬ 
tioned : 

Farmers’ Bulletin 340 (Declaration of Governors for the conservation of natural 
resources). 

The National Forests and the farmer, Year Book 1914, 65-88. 

Agriculture and Government reclamation projects, Year Book 1916, 177-198. 

Farms, forests, and erosion, Year Book 1916, 107-134. 

Department of Agriculture year books 1914 to 1926 contain valuable informa¬ 
tional material. 

Consult “Guide to United States Government Publications,” U. S. Bureau of Edu¬ 
cation Bulletin, 1918, No. 2; also, “The Federal Executive Department as 
Sources of Information,” U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1919, No. 74. 

Report of the National Conservation Commission (1909), Senate Document 676, 
60th Congress, 2d Session. 


CHAPTER XVI 


PROTECTION OF PROPERTY AND PROPERTY RIGHTS 

There is nothing more discouraging than to have the product 
of one’s labor swept away by disaster. The farmer who has 
every prospect of a bumper crop after a hard Destruction 
season’s work may have his hope dashed by smut in af P r °P ert y 
his grain, or by a visitation of grasshoppers, or by storm and 
flood. Cholera may carry off his hogs, or hoof-and-mouth 
disease his cattle. Rats and other rodents may eat his grain. 
Fire may destroy his barn or his home. The thief may steal 
his pocketbook or his automobile. His investments may prove 
unfortunate, or be swept away by somebody’s bad management 
or fraud. Some thoughtless boys or deliberate vandals may 
ruin in a few minutes a beautiful lawn or trees that have taken 
years to grow and have involved great expense and effort. 

The individual’s loss is also a loss to the community. It is 

reported by the Department of Agriculture that nearly $800,- 

000,000 damage was done to crops by insects in a ^ ^ ^ 

single year. Animal diseases cause a direct loss i 0S s from 

to our country estimated at $212,000,000 annually, property 

, , „ 0 destruction 

Hog cholera alone costs $75,000,000 a year. Smut 

destroys more than $50,000,000 a year in cereals. Food and 

feed products to the value of $150,000,000 a year are destroyed 

by prairie dogs, ground squirrels, and other rodents. It is 

said that prairie dogs often take half the pasturage of western 

cattle ranges. It is estimated that the killing of wolves, 

coyotes, mountain lions, bobcats, and lynxes saved more than 

$2,000,000 worth of livestock in 1918. Floods have destroyed 

$200,000,000 in property in the Mississippi Valley alone. 

231 


232 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 



The loss from fire in the United States is said to equal the 
value of our total product of gold, silver, copper, and petroleum. 

The buildings consumed by fire in 1914, if placed on lots of 65 feet front¬ 
age, would line both sides of a street extending from New York to Chicago. 
A person journeying along this street of desolation would pass in every thou¬ 
sand feet a ruin from which an injured person was taken. At every three 
fourths of a mile in this journey he would encounter the charred remains 
of a human being who has been burned to death. 1 


A Cornfield Ruined by Ground Squirrels 

Protection against loss of property is one of the chief services 
performed for us by our government. We have already noted 
The service of in Chapter XII what a great deal of work both 
government the national and state governments are doing to 
prevent loss of crops and of livestock from disease, insects, and 
other causes (see pp. 148-155). What this may mean to the 
individual farmer and to the country is suggested by the case 
of a farmer who had hundreds of acres of corn destroyed in some 

1 “The Fire Tax and Waste of Structural Materials in the United States,” Bul¬ 
letin 814, U. S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior. 






PROTECTION OF PROPERTY 233 

manner unknown to him. A single visit from a representative 
of the Department of Agriculture showed him the cause of the 
trouble, the corn rootworm, and how it could be eradicated by 
a simple rotation of crops. The farmer said that this knowledge 
would save him $10,000 a year. 


Break in Irrigation Ditch Caused by Ground Squirrels 
S ix acres of alfalfa destroyed. 

The state and national governments spend a great deal of 
money in equipping experimental laboratories and employing 
scientists to seek out these enemies of the farmer Leadership 
and of the nation, to find methods of destroying and 
them or counteracting their effects, and to advise C 0 °P eratl011 
the farmer how he may protect himself and his neighbors. 
While the government provides leadership in these matters, it 
depends upon the cooperation of the people to get results, as 
we have seen in so many cases. A farmer may destroy all the 
rats, or ground squirrels, or prairie dogs on his place, but the 




234 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


trouble will be repeated unless there is community cooperation. 
The same thing is true of animal and plant diseases, insect 
enemies, and so on. 

Investigate and report on: 

Further facts regarding losses to farmers of the United States due to 
insect and bird enemies, predatory animals, animal and plant diseases. 

Similar losses in your own state. 

Estimated losses of individual farmers in your locality from any of these 
causes. 

The value of insect-eating birds as property savers. 

Campaigns against rabbits and prairie dogs in the West. 

Bounties on wolves and other predatory animals in your state. 

The work of your state experiment station to prevent loss of property. 

Some kinds of protection require effort beyond the powers of 
individual citizens, or even of combined citizen action. This 

National * s ^ case fl°°d protection (see pp. 218- 

cooperation 219). Millions of dollars in property have been 

for flood destroyed, thousands of lives lost, and untold 

suffering caused by the periodic recurrence of 
floods in certain sections of the country, as in the lower 
Mississippi Valley, or as in Ohio a few years ago. The in¬ 
dividual farmer has some responsibility for such floods, because 
by looking after his own drainage and preserving his own 
timberland he may help decrease the amount of water that 
flows into the streams and ultimately causes such havoc farther 
down the valley. But such efforts are helpful only in connec¬ 
tion with the larger efforts of the government. Even state 
governments cannot alone control the floods, because the waters 
that cause damage in Louisiana and Mississippi come from the 
states along the entire course of the Mississippi River and its 
tributaries. Moreover, the destruction caused in Louisiana or 
any other state is a loss to the entire nation. The control of 
floods requires the combined efforts of national and state 
governments, as well as of local communities and individuals. 


PROTECTION OF PROPERTY 


235 


Levees have been built along some of our rivers that are 
subject to flood, notably the lower Mississippi, where the work 
has been done by the joint action of the states affected, through 
their local levee boards and their state boards of engineers, 
and the United States Mississippi River Commission. The 
United States government has spent large sums for river im¬ 
provements, but there is a general feeling that the money has 
not always been wisely spent. At all events the work has been 
restricted to navigable streams under the power of the national 
government to regulate interstate commerce. Recently, how¬ 
ever, the President has approved a law passed by Congress 
appropriating $45,000,000 for the control of the floods of the 
Mississippi by improvements from the headwaters of the river 
to the mouth of the Ohio. The law also includes the appro¬ 
priation of $5,000,000 for the protection of the Sacramento 
Valley in California. This law was passed under the power 
given to Congress by the Constitution “to lay and collect 
taxes ... for the common defense and general welfare of the 
United States” (Art. I, sec. 8, clause 1). 

Great saving of property has been effected by the United 
States Weather Bureau. The work of this Bureau is wonder¬ 
ful, but it is not mysterious. Just as the move- wr , , 
ments of a ship or of a railroad tram may be united States 
reported day by day, and hour by hour, by tele- Weather 
graph, so the appearance and movement 01 a storm 
center or of a cold wave or of a flood are reported from a multi¬ 
tude of observing stations. There are central weather-fore¬ 
casting stations at Chicago, New Orleans, Denver, San Fran¬ 
cisco, Portland, Ore., and Washington, D.C. Weather forecasts 
are made up at these points from observations telegraphed in 
from observing stations, and within two hours are telegraphed 
to about 1200 distributing stations, from which they are further 
distributed to about 90,000 mail addresses daily, to all news¬ 
papers, and are made available to 5,500,000 telephone sub- 



236 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

scribers. A farmer may call central by telephone and learn with 
remarkable certainty what the weather for twenty-four hours 
will be, except in the case of local thunder showers which may 
drench his fields while passing by those of his neighbor. 

“It may be said without exaggeration that the San Francisco 
office of the Weather Bureau has saved to the citrus fruit growers 


A Community Drive on Rabbits 

of California more money within the last five years than the 
annual appropriation for the entire Bureau during a period of 
twenty years.” “In the citrus fruit districts of California it is 
reported that fruit to the value of $14,000,000 was saved . . . 
during one cold wave.” “The value of the orange bloom, 
vegetables, and strawberries protected and saved on a single 
night in a limited district in Florida . . . was reported at over 
$100,000.” “The warnings issued for a single cold wave ^ . . 
resulted in saving over $3,500,000 through the protection of 
property.” “Signals displayed for a single hurricane are 
known to have detained in port on our Atlantic coast vessels 







PROTECTION OF PROPERTY 


237 


valued with their cargoes at over $30,000,000.” Flood warnings 
are sent in from about 66 centers along our rivers, enabling 
farmers to remove their cattle from bottom lands, to save their 
crops when they are ready for cutting, and otherwise to deter¬ 
mine their farming operations. They are also of the greatest 
service to railroads, business men, and home owners, in cities. 
These are but a few illustrations of the service performed by the 
Weather Bureau. 

Investigate and report on: 

The building of levees in your state. Where, by whom, their value. 

The amount of money spent in your state for river improvement (or 
harbor improvement). 

How the Weather Bureau forecasts the weather, storms, floods. 

How to read a weather map. 

Experiences of individual farmers of your locality with regard to benefits 
derived from the Weather Bureau. 

How a merchant in your town may be benefited by the Weather Bureau. 

The losses in your state and locality from frost. 

A great deal of the property loss referred to is due to causes 
for which we are not responsible, such as storms, the depredations 
of insects, and epidemics of animal disease. But Preventable 
some of it is due to our own carelessness. It was losses 
said on page 176 that wastefulness is our chief national sin. 
Carelessness is the twin sister of wastefulness; they go hand in 
hand. Enormous waste is caused by fire, and most fires are 
due to carelessness — carelessness in handling matches, in the 
use of oil stoves, in accumulations of rubbish, in disposing of 
hot ashes, in smoking where there are inflammable materials. 

In cities and towns the safety of our own property from fire 
is largely dependent upon the care of others. If our neighbor 
is careless, our property as well as his may be de- Fire protec- 
stroyed. Under such circumstances it is necessary tion in cities 
to have rules to regulate conduct for the common safety. The 
materials with which we may build, the thickness of our walls, 


238 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


the construction of our flues, the storage of explosive or in¬ 
flammable materials, the disposal of rubbish and ashes, and 
many other things, are regulated by law. This is cooperation 
for fire prevention. Much money is also spent by cities for 
fire protection, including water supply and organized fire depart¬ 
ments (see p. 41). 



Destruction oe Good Farm Lands by Flood 


Where people live widely separated from one another, as in 
rural communities, such regulations are less necessary and 
organized fire protection is less easy to afford. A farmer’s 
Fire protec- property may be destroyed by fire from a spark 
tion in rural from a passing locomotive, or from the camp of 
communities a care i ess hunter in the adjoining woods. There 
may be state laws to control such cases. But in the main, 
if his property burns it is due to the carelessness of some 
one who lives on the premises, and he is dependent upon 
his own efforts to control the fire. Improved farm water supply 




PROTECTION OF PROPERTY 


239 


with adequate pumping facilities, the telephone by which 
neighbors may be summoned, and the automobile by which 
help may quickly be brought, have increased the farmer’s 
safety; but his chief safeguard is the exercise of care by all 
who live on the farm at every point where a fire might possibly 
be started. 

Fire insurance is a means of reducing the fire loss of individual 
property owners by a form of cooperation. Insurance com¬ 
panies, operating under state laws, sell insurance to Fire 
property owners. The latter pay a small premium insurance 
for the protection afforded. From the funds produced by the 
premiums and the interest on their investment (see p. 187), 
the occasional losses of individuals are paid. This does not pre¬ 
vent the destruction of the property, but it distributes the loss 
among thousands of people, perhaps in all parts of the country. 

There are in the United States about 2000 farmers’ cooperative 
fire insurance companies , carrying insurance amounting to more 
than 9 billion dollars. These companies are asso- Farmers ’ 
ciations of farmers who elect their own directors cooperative 
and manage their own insurance business. They msurance 
provide insurance at a much lower rate than the ordinary com¬ 
mercial insurance companies. A usual provision of the laws 
under which these cooperative companies operate is that no 
member may insure his property for its full value. His neigh¬ 
bors will help him bear his loss, but will not bear it all. This 
has the effect of causing him to exercise greater care to prevent 
fire on his premises. For this reason insurance does reduce the 
actual fire loss to some extent. Property may also be insured 
against loss from storm and flood. 

Investigate and report on: 

Fire losses in your community in a year. 

Causes of fires in your community last year. Number that were prevent¬ 
able. 

Precautions against fire in your home and school. 


240 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 



Fire preventive regulations in your community. 

Cost of fire prevention in your community. 

Improved means of fire prevention in country districts. 
How fire insurance works. 

Cooperative fire insurance companies in your state. 
Storm insurance in your locality. 


Flood of the Ohio River at Marietta, Ohio 

All states have laws to protect their citizens against the 
“ill-mannered” (see p. 47) who do not respect property 
Police rights — thieves, burglars, highwaymen, vandals, 

protection sharpers, and others. The enforcement of these 
laws is left largely in the hands of local community officers. 
Cities have police departments, with large numbers of patrol¬ 
men and detectives whose business it is not only to arrest vio¬ 
lators of the law after the violation has taken place, but also 
by their vigilance to prevent the violation from occurring. 

The state laws against the violation of property rights 
apply to rural communities as well as to cities, and rural com- 
Rurai police munities have officers for their enforcement — the 
protection constable in townships, the sheriff and his deputies 
in counties. Where the population is small and widely scat- 




PROTECTION OF PROPERTY 


241 


tered, as in a rural township or county, about all the officers 
can do is to arrest law violators after the commission of the un¬ 
lawful act, if they can be found. The officers are too few to 
watch isolated and remote property, and in case of serious dis¬ 
turbance, such as a riot, they are too few to handle the situation 
effectively. Rural communities and many small industrial or 
mining communities do not always have the protection they 
need against lawlessness. In such cases the tendency is some¬ 
times for the people to “take the law in their own hands.” In 
times of labor trouble mining companies and other industrial 
corporations have sometimes organized their own police. Such 
practice is dangerous, for the enforcement of law should be in 
the hands of the state, and not in the hands of an interested 
party. In early days on the frontier, in mining and lumber 
camps, “vigilance committees” were common; and even now, 
in various localities, we hear too frequently of “lynching 
parties,” which are as lawless as the original offenders against 
the law, and tend to create a disrespect for law. 

And yet disrespect for law may also result from failure on the 
part of the community to enforce the law through regular 
agencies, from failure of officers to apprehend offenders promptly, 
or of courts to mete out justice promptly and impartially. 

Canada has been more efficient than the United States in 
affording protection to remote and rural communities, by 
means of her national mounted police. “The po ii ce 
isolated farmer and his wife slept securely in their 
sod hovel beyond the frontier, because they knew that a brave 
and swift corps of vigilant young athletes . . . kept sleep¬ 
less vigil. Life and property were secure. ...” 1 In our 
own country Texas has her “rangers” who protect her borders 
against raids; but the best example of rural policing in the 
United States is in Pennsylvania, where there is a well-organized 

1 C. R. Henderson, “Rural Police,” Annals American Academy of Political and 
Social Science, 1912, p. 228. 


242 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


state police, or “ constabulary, ” which has many times proved 
its efficiency in protecting remote rural communities and homes, 
in bringing criminals to justice, and in quelling riots in mining 
centers. 

A great deal of property is destroyed or injured by vandals. 
The original Vandals were a tribe of Germanic peoples who 
Va daii invaded southern and western Europe in the Middle 

Ages, and who were noted for their destructiveness 
of the beautiful buildings and other evidences of Roman civili¬ 
zation. There seem to be vandals in almost every community, 
and sometimes they seem to be especially numerous in small 
communities, perhaps because of the lack of police protection. 
Sometimes vandalism is wanton, —• that is, it results from an 
apparent love of being destructive. Most often it is purely 
thoughtless. Few people would knowingly injure the prop¬ 
erty of another if they would stop to think of their feelings if 
another should injure their property. It is a case of “bad 
manners.” Moreover, it is not a “square deal” to injure 
another’s property while expecting one’s own property to be 
secure. When vandalism occurs in a community it creates 
a general feeling of insecurity and destroys the sense of 
freedom. 

Public property is often more likely to suffer from vandalism 
than private property. Some people will mar the walls of 
public buildings, or make their floors filthy with expectoration, 
when they would not think of doing so in private buildings. 
They will break shrubbery in public parks, or despoil public 
flower beds, when they would not think of entering private 
premises for such purpose. There seems to be a feeling that 
public property belongs to no one, or else that, since it is public, 
any one is at liberty to do as he pleases with it. This, of course, 
is foolish. It is as if a stockholder in a business corporation 
should injure or destroy the corporation property, forgetting 
that he owned a share in it and suffered a share of the loss. 


PROTECTION OF PROPERTY 


243 


District Chief Headquarters 
© Federal Patrolman 
S+a+e. Fire Warden 
Deputy Fire Warden •• 

▲ State \ 

> Lookout Stations 

■A. Private/ 

6 tool Supply Boxes ot 
N.H.Timberland Owners Ass'qt 

.A. Fb+rol man's Camp 

— - Federal Patrol Routes 

..Telephone Lines 


SS^^sFire District Boundary 


SCAtf Or Mive» 



Fire Plan Map, Northern District of New Hampshire 







244 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Investigate and report on: 

Organization of police protection in your community. 

Organization of a police department in a large city. 

The mounted police of Canada and their work. 

The Texas rangers. 

The state police of Pennsylvania. 

Vigilance committees in frontier towns of former times. 

Why lynching is wrong. 

The promptness with which justice is meted out in the courts of your 
state. 

The extent and causes of vandalism in your community. 

Is vandalism justifiable on Hallowe’en ? 

Inspect the courthouse and other public buildings in your community 
and report as to whether they are disfigured in any way. 


When a thief or vandal takes or destroys another person’s 
property, the loss of the property is not the worst thing that 
The sacred- happens, but the attack upon property rights . 
ness of prop- The right to security in one’s possessions is among 
erty rights ^ most sacred rights of a free people, being 
classed with the right to life, the right of free speech, the right 
of petition, the right to freedom of religion. It is by securing 
these rights that the law makes us free. The sacred right to 
property is as truly violated by one who steals a nickel as by one 
who robs a bank of a thousand dollars, by one who ruins our 
flower bed as well as by one who burns our house. The amount 
has nothing to do with it. The tax which the English govern¬ 
ment imposed on tea imported by the American colonists was 
not a heavy tax, but the colonists objected because it was 
imposed without their consent. 

The citizens of a free country require protection of their 
property rights against infringement by their government as 
well as by one another. The Revolutionary War 

Constitutional . .. .. - . . , . . , 

guarantees was fought in defense of this and other rights 

of property against violation by the English government. 

When the Constitution of the United States was 


rights 


framed the people refused to ratify it unless amendments were 


PROTECTION OF PROPERTY 


245 


added guaranteeing these rights. Thus it was provided that 
“no soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house 
without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a 
manner to be prescribed by law” (Amendment III); that “the 
right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, 
and ^effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall 
not oe violated. . . .” (Amendment IV); that “no persons 
shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty or property, without due 
process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public 
use without just compensation” (Amendment V. See also 
Chapter XIV, p. 207). The Constitution also provides that 
“ no state shall . . . pass any . . . law impairing the obligation 
of contracts” (Art. I, sec. 10, clause 1), and in various other 
ways protects our property rights. Our state constitutions con¬ 
tain many similar provisions. Our governments have the power 
to take property in the form of taxes, but under certain restric¬ 
tions imposed by our constitutions to safeguard the rights of the 
people (see Chapter XXIII). 

It is to protect these rights , rather than property itself, that 
communities have their police, that states have their militia, 
and that the nation has its army and its navy, our national 
Among the chief causes that led us into war with arm y 
Germany was the fact that Germany was violating the property 
rights of our citizens. While our Constitution provides for 
state militia and a national army for the defense of our rights, 
property rights included, it has always been our national 
policy to maintain as small a standing army as is consistent 
with the national safety; and this for the very reason that a. 
large standing army and a large navy are not only a great 
burden of expense, but also, as the founders of our nation 
believed, a menace to the liberties of the people and to the peace 
of the world. 

We have seen that no person may be deprived of property 
by the government “without due process of law.” This 


community civics 


24 6 


means that the procedure provided by law must be followed, 
and that the citizen whose property is taken may have his side 
. of the case presented, the value of the property in 

of the question appraised by impartial judges, and so on. 

courts - g k us i ness of the courts to see that justice is 

done. They inquire into the facts in the case, and interpret 
the law bearing on it. The courts are the final safeguard to 
our liberties. Our government comprises, therefore, not only 
a law-making branch and a law-enforcing branch, but also a 
law-interpreting , or judicial , branch — the courts. 

The Constitution guarantees justice to persons accused of 
violating the property rights, or other rights of citizens, by 
The rights theft, fraud, or otherwise, as well as to the citizen 

of accused who has been wronged. “In all criminal prose- 

persons cutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy 

and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district 
wherein the crime shall have been committed . . . and to be 
informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be 
confronted with the witnesses against him, to have compulsory 
process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the 
assistance of counsel for his defense” (Amendment VI). “Ex¬ 
cessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, 
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (Amendment 
VIII). 


Investigate and report on: 

How are property rights guaranteed in your state constitution? in the 
national Constitution? 

Read the charges made in the Declaration of Independence against 
the king of England with respect to the violation of property rights. 

“Due process of law.” 

The violation of property rights by Germany as a cause for war. 

Are property rights as sacred in time of war as in time of peace? 

What property rights has an American in Mexico ? 

What property rights has a Mexican in the United States? 

What became of German property in the United States during the war? 


PROTECTION OF PROPERTY 


247 


The purpose of the courts. 

What courts exist in your community? 

The rights of a person accused of crime. 

READINGS 

In the Year Book of the Department of Agriculture: 

1910, pp. 413-424, Fire prevention and control on the national forests. 

1913, pp. 75- 92, Bringing applied entomology to the farmer. 

1915, pp. 159-172, Animal disease and our food supply. 

1915, pp. 263-272, Recent grasshopper outbreaks and methods of control. 

1916, pp. 217-226, Suppression of gypsy and brown-tailed moths. 

1916, pp. 267-272, Cooperative work for eradicating citrus canker. 

1916, pp. 381-398, Destroying rodent pests on the farm. 

1918, pp. 303-316, Federal protection of migratory birds. 

Farmers’ mutual fire insurance, U. S. Department of Agriculture Bulletin No. 530; 
also, Year Book, 1916, pp. 421-434. 

The Weather Bureau (a pamphlet), Government Printing Office, Washington. 
Send to the Weather Bureau for list of publications. 

How the Weather Bureau forecasts storms, frosts, and floods, Office of Information, 
U. S. Department of Agriculture; reprinted in Scientific American Supplement, 
March 14, 19x4. 

Forecasting storms: the Weather Bureau’s helpfulness, Sunset Magazine, vol. 
25, pp. 529-532 (Nov., 1910). 

The Farmer and the Weather Bureau, Scientific American, Feb. 18, 1911. 
Doing business by the weather map, World's Work, June, 1914. 

Flood control: 

Water Supply Paper 234, U. S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior, 
1919. Write for other publications on this subject. Also, the Office of the 
Chief of Engineers, War Department. 

There has been much magazine literature on this subject. 

War and Navy Departments, in the Federal Executive Departments, Bulletin, 
1919, No. 74, U. S. Bureau of Education. 

Dunn, The Community and the Citizen, chap. X. 

Hart, Actual Government, pp. 573-582. 


CHAPTER XVII 


ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION 


During the years 1910-1915 the Office of Public Roads of 
the United States Department of Agriculture made a con- 
Studies of tinuous study, year by year, of the methods and 
the Office of results of road improvement in eight selected coun- 
Pubiic Roads ^ es 0 £ ^ United States. 1 The results of the 
investigation are described in Bulletin No. 393 (1916) of the 
Department of Agriculture, which is worth sending for and 
studying by any school that is interested in the improvement 
of the community. 

One of these counties was Spotsylvania County, Virginia, 
a map of which is shown on the opposite page. Since the 
Spotsylvania Civil War the farm land in this county had gradu- 
County, Va. ally declined from its prosperous condition before 
the war until it was little better than a wilderness of second- 
growth timber, valued at from $5 to $15 an acre. For many 
months of the year the roads were well-nigh impassable. There 
was much wealth in timber, but it could not be marketed to 
advantage. The soil was very little cultivated. More farm 
products were shipped into Fredericksburg, the only city in 
the county, by rail from outside than were shipped out from the 
farms of the county. 

Nearly one third of the population of the county lived in 
Movement Fredericksburg; but under the law of the state 
for road of Virginia the people of the city could not be 
improvement taxe( £ f or coun ty purposes outside of the city. 
Moreover, two of the four districts of the county at first took 

1 Spotsylvania, Dinwiddie, Lee, and Wise counties in Virginia; Franklyn County 
in New York; Dallas County in Alabama; Lauderdale County in Mississippi; and 
Manatee County in Florida. 

248 


ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION 


249 















250 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


little interest in the matter of road improvement, although they 
had to use the roads in going to market at Fredericksburg. 
Courtland and Chancellor districts, however (see map), were 
determined to have better roads, and voted to raise the neces¬ 
sary money by selling bonds to the amount of $100,000. Three 
years later the other two districts, inspired by the success of 
Courtland and Chancellor districts, also voted bonds for road 
improvement to the amount of $73,000. This debt would of 
course have to be paid off by levying taxes upon the people of 
the districts. With a tax rate of $1.70 on every hundred 
dollars’ worth of property, a farmer with a farm assessed at 
$3000 would pay a total tax of $51, of which $19.48 would be 
for the roads. 

It is not always easy to convince the people of a community 
that it is worth while to spend so much money on their roads. 
Cost must be They have to be shown that the expenditure will in 
justified due time pay for itself, as well as add to the con¬ 
venience and pleasure of the community. Too much money 
spent in costly improvements on roads that are little used, or in 
construction that does not stand the traffic and soon wears out, 
is of course a bad investment. But the results in Spotsylvania 
County, as well as in the seven other counties studied by the 
Office of Public Roads, justified the cost. 

The law of Virginia provided that all highway construction 
in the state must be supervised by the state highway commis- 
State and sioner. He accordingly appointed an engineer 
local to supervise the work in Spotsylvania County, 

cooperation ^ en gj neer ’ s sa i ai y being paid by the state. The 
work of construction, however, was under the direction of a 
county hoard of public roads. The board appointed a superin¬ 
tendent who hired all labor and teams and purchased all equip¬ 
ment and materials. Three main highways in Courtland and 
Chancellor districts, and leading into Fredericksburg, were 
chosen for improvement. Within two years more than forty 


ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION 


25 1 



Before and After Road Construction in Arkansas 

miles of road were completed, or about io per cent of all the 
roads in the entire county. 

Roads have to be kept in repair after they are constructed 
By 1914 money was needed for this purpose. The farmers 
objected to further increase of the tax rate, so it was decided 





252 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


to charge tolls for the use of the improved highways — 5 cents 
for a single horse and vehicle, 10 cents for two horses and a 
Money for buggy, 15 cents for two horses and a wagon, 25 

repairs cents for four horses and a wagon, and from 20 

cents to 35 cents for automobiles. More money than was needed 
was raised in this way in the first month, and the tolls were 
therefore reduced one half. One advantage to the county of 
the toll system was that automobilists and others from other 
districts, counties, and states would contribute to the upkeep 
of the roads. 

On the roads selected for improvement there were 35 farms 

including 5518 acres. In 1910, the average value of these 

t f farms, including buildings, was $14 per acre, and 

improvements seldom did any one want to buy land in the neigh- 

on land borhood. But within two years after the road 

values 

improvement seven of the 35 farms had been sold, 
and a large part of another, as shown in the following table: 


Farm 

Acres 

Value in 
1909-10 

Sold for in 1912 

Increase Per Cent 

1 

139 

$35°° 

$5000 

43 

2 

420 

6000 

8250 

37 

3 

IOI 

3000 

375° 

25 

4 

475 

5 000 

12500 

150 

5 

357 

2800 

4400 

76 

6 

133 

7000 

10000 

43 

7 

100 

3000 

4750 

58 

8 

no 

1500 

2000 (for 80 acres) 

60 (besides $500 for 
timber and 30 
acres remaining) 


In the next two or three years a number of other farms 
were sold at similar increased prices, and some farms that had 
been abandoned were reoccupied. Large areas of land were 
cultivated for the first time since the Civil War. The farmers 
were, however, most interested for the time being in their 












ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION 


253 




A Road in Mississippi before and after Improvement 


timber wealth, and between 1909 and 1913 the shipments of 
forest products from Fredericksburg increased 78.2 per cent. 
Before the improvement of the roads, the average weight 









254 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


of load for a two-horse team in the winter and spring, when 
the roads were bad, was about 1200 pounds; when the roads 
The average were dry, about 2400 pounds. The cost for haul- 
haiil ing at this rate averaged, for the year round, about 

30 cents per ton per mile. After the roads were improved, the 
average load the year round was 4000 pounds, and the cost for 
hauling only 15 cents per ton per mile. (See illustrations.) 


Investigate and report on: 

Results of road improvement in others of the eight counties referred to 
on page 248 (see Bulletin 393, 1916, Department of Agriculture). 

Procure or make a map of your county showing road improvement. Is 
your county well provided with improved roads? 

Do the cities and towns in your county contribute to the improvement of 
the country roads? 

Do the people of the rural districts of your county contribute to the 
improvement of the streets of the cities and towns ? 

Bond issues in your county for road improvement. Meaning of “bond 
issues.” 

Tax rate in your county for road improvement. 

How is road improvement managed in your county ? 

What help does your county get from your state for road improvement? 

What supervision does your state exercise over road improvement? 

Are there toll roads in your county or state ? 

Toll roads were once common in this country. Why have tolls been 
generally abandoned? 

Who has charge of bridge construction in your county? 

From what sources does the money come for road repair in your county? 

What is the cost of hauling on the roads of your county? How does 
this cost compare with the cost in neighboring counties and states ? 

Relation of land values in your county to the character of the roads. 


Good roads pay, in dollars and cents, provided they are made 
of suitable materials and with due regard to the kind and amount 
Money value tra ffi c they are to carry. They permit of larger 
of good loads, and more loads in a given time; they save 

wear and tear on horses, harness, wagons, and auto¬ 
mobiles; in the case of automobiles they save gasoline; they 


ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION 


255 



Hauling Cotton in Tennessee on Unimproved and Improved Roads 








256 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


save the time of the farmer; they make possible a more varied 
agriculture by making marketing easier; they add to the value 
of the land. 

But good roads pay in many other ways than in dollars and 
cents. In Spotsylvania County, as in other counties investi- 
Good roads gated at the same time, the improvement of the 
and com- roads was followed by a decided improvement in 

mumty life sc hool attendance. In more than one case it led to 
the improvement of the quality of the schools by the consolida¬ 
tion of a number of poor, one-room schoolhouses into a single 
larger school with better equipment and better teachers (see 
Chapter XIX). The relation between good roads and good 
schools is clearly suggested in one of the illustrations in this 
chapter. So, also, good roads increase the ease with which the 
people of the community may associate with one another, 
attend church or community meetings at the schoolhouse, and 
enjoy the social life and entertainment of the neighboring city 
or village. When the road is improved, the farmers along the 
way are more likely to keep the weeds cut, to repair broken 
fences or build new ones, and otherwise to beautify the adjoin¬ 
ing premises, which adds both to the money value of property 
and to the enjoyment of life. 

Road making is necessarily a cooperative enterprise. In the 
first place, a public road serves the common interest of the 
Road making ent i re community. The community may, through 
a cooperative its government, exercise the right of eminent domain 
enterprise ( see p 207), taking land from adjacent farms 
for the purpose of laying out a new road, provided, of course, 
that the farmers are paid for it. In the second place, the making 
of a road is far too costly and difficult for an individual farmer 
to undertake for the benefit he himself would derive from it. It 
requires a great deal of labor and a high degree of technical skill. 

It has been quite common for farmers themselves to work 
on the roads of their locality—'“working out” their road 


ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION 


257 


taxes. But roads so made are seldom very good, unless the 
work is supervised by some one trained in the business. 
Whether a farmer works on the roads himself or Road maldng 
merely pays for having it done, it is to his advan- a job for 
tage to know something about road making. The experts 
Department of Agriculture and the state agricultural colleges now 
give extension courses in road making for the benefit of the 
farmers. It is reported that in one county of Oklahoma the 



Six Thousand Pounds of Milk in One Load on a New 
York Road 

pupils of forty different school districts have built more than 
forty miles of good roads, of course working under supervision. 

Good country roads are of the greatest importance, not only 
to the farmers and rural communities, but also to the people of 
cities. The road improvement in Spotsylvania Value of 
County, Virginia, was of as much benefit to the country roads 
people and the business of Fredericksburg as to to Clties 
the farmers. An excellent illustration of the recognition of the 
common interest of city and country in the public roads, and of 
effective cooperation in improving them, was given in Chapter 









COMMUNITY CIVICS 


258 

III, page 32, in the case of Christian County, Kentucky. The 
wide use of the automobile has done a great deal to awaken 
the people of cities to their interest in country roads, and 



Modern Transportation on Good Country Roads 


associations and journals devoted to the interests of automobilists 
have been active in advocating the improvement of the public 
highways. 













ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION 


259 


In Spotsylvania County we saw, also, that the improvement 
of roads in two districts was a direct advantage to the farmers 
of the other two districts. Carrying this idea Good roads 
further, we shall see that the roads of one county not merely of 
may be of the greatest importance to other coun- local concern 
ties in the state; and those of one state of importance to other 
states. The crossties produced from the timber of Spotsylvania 
County may be wanted for railroad building in a distant state. 
The cotton from the plantations of Tennessee or Texas is needed 
at the mills in New England. The wheat of the great farms 
of the northwest supplies the whole nation. Most of the freight 
carried on the railroads and steamships has at some time and 
in some form been hauled in wagons and trucks over country 
roads. It is clear, then, that the character of the highways in 
any locality is a matter of national interest, and even of world¬ 
wide interest. 

When our nation was created, the question of highways at 
once became very important. The states needed to be bound 
together, and the public lands must be settled. Eady national 
The Constitution gave Congress the power “ to interest in 
establish post offices and post roads,” and “to road bmldm s 
regulate commerce . . . among the several states”; but it was 
not clear how far these powers could be exercised for “internal 
improvements.” Roads and canals were proposed in great 
numbers. In 1806 Congress authorized the building of the 
Cumberland Road, which began at Cumberland, Md., and was 
finally completed as far west as Illinois. Road building was, 
however, left chiefly to the states and to private enterprise. 
The Cumberland Road finally passed under the control of the 
states through which it ran, and by them was given into the 
management of the counties. Many “turnpikes” were built 
by private companies, which charged tolls for their use. 

The building of many canals and, later, the coming of rail¬ 
roads caused interest in public highways to decline, and their 


26 o 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


building was left almost wholly to local initiative, where it re¬ 
mained until very recently. The result is that the United 
Poor roads States has had the poorest roads in the civilized 
in the world. Under local management the cost of public 

United States roa( j s f e p chiefly upon the farmers, cities escaping 
taxation for this purpose, except for their own streets. A road 
running across a state might be well kept in some localities 
while allowed to run down in others. A community was reluc¬ 
tant to spend money on a highway only to have the improvements 
destroyed by through traffic from neighboring communities who 
had no responsibility for maintaining the road. Local communi¬ 
ties could not afford to employ expert officials to plan and 
supervise road construction. 

Under these conditions the road situation became so bad 
that public sentiment was gradually aroused on the subject, 
state control and it was seen that a road was of more than merely 
of highways local importance. State control was agitated. 
New Jersey was the first state to pass a law placing the high¬ 
ways within the state under state regulation. This was in 
1891. Other states followed New Jersey’s example, until by 
1914 forty-two states had state highway departments. These 
differ greatly from one another in organization, powers, and 
efficiency. Unfortunately, “political influence” has entered 
into road building and management in many states in such a 
way as to interfere with efficiency; — that is, those in charge 
of roads have often been chosen for political reasons rather than 
for their fitness for the work, and large sums of money have 
been spent unwisely, if not dishonestly in some cases. 

In a number of states, state highways have been built. These 
are wholly state enterprises, paid for and managed by the 
Recent prog- state * California has two trunk lines running 
ress under the entire length of the state, with branch lines 
state control connecting them with the county seats. To 
January 1, 1926, Massachusetts had completed more than 


ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION 


261 



School Consolidation Following Road Improvement 

1500 miles of state highways. New York has an extensive 
system, and Maryland is another example. But the plan most 
commonly in use is state aid and supervision in the construction 
of roads by counties. This was the New Jersey plan of 1891. 
By it, plans for road improvement with state aid in any county 
must be approved by the state highway department, and 






262 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


construction is supervised by state engineers. The cost is 
divided between the state and the local community. 



Courtesy American Magazine of Art . 

The Commerce oe the Prairies 
Mural decoration by Allen True, Branch Library, East Denver. 


The work of the national government in behalf of good 
roads was, until recently, largely educational and advisory. 

In 1893 the Office of Road Inquiry (now the 
Bureau of Public Roads) was created in the United 
States Department of Agriculture to investigate 
methods of road making and management. The 
results of its investigation were published for the 
benefit of the country, and advice given when asked for. Here 
and there model or experimental roads were constructed to test 
new methods or to serve as object lessons to the localities where 


Work of the 
national gov¬ 
ernment for 
road im¬ 
provement 







ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION 


263 


they were built. Good road building was greatly stimulated by 
the rural mail service of the government. The national govern¬ 
ment has also given to many states public lands within their 
borders, the proceeds from which were to be used for road con¬ 
struction ; and a part of the proceeds from the sale of timber in 
the national forests is devoted to road building in the locality. 

But in 1916, Congress passed the Federal Aid Road Act. 
This Act appropriated 75 million dollars to aid states in im¬ 
proving their “rural post roads,” and 10 million Federal Aid 
dollars for the construction and maintenance of Road Act 
roads in the national forests. The money was to be given to 
the states only on their request, and on condition that each 
state should provide an amount equal to that received from the 
national treasury. The law also provided that each state re¬ 
ceiving Federal aid must have an effective highway department. 
The administration of the law was placed in the hands of the 
Bureau of Public Roads. 

Since the initial appropriation of the Federal Aid Road Act, 
other appropriations have been made bringing the total amount 
made available to the states up to $840,000,000. In order to 
receive this aid in road building, all the states hastened to re¬ 
organize their highway departments, or to create new ones, and 
otherwise to conform to the law. The expenditure of the money 
is in the hands of the states, but only for such systems of roads 
as have been approved by the Federal government and under 
definite conditions relating to permanent maintenance. 

The Federal Aid Road Act gave great impetus to road im¬ 
provement. Although this aid was to be applied only to a sys¬ 
tem of roads approved by the national government state 
and totaling about 184,000 miles throughout the highway 
country, the states themselves appropriated large cons 
sums for state highways in addition to the amount they had 
to appropriate to match the sums received from the government. 
In 1926, 29,000 miles of state highway were constructed at a cost 


264 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


of $461,000,000. Many states are giving state aid to their 
counties for road building, much as the national government 
gives aid to the states. According to the Bureau of Public 
Roads, New York State had completed nearly 10,000 miles of 
surfaced roads by January 1, 1926, Pennsylvania nearly 8,000 
miles, Michigan over 6,000 miles, Illinois 4,000, Maryland 2,500, 
Massachusetts 1,500; and so in all the other states. 

County and state roads feed into the Federal Aid system, and 
the Federal Aid systems of adjoining states connect, so that we 
A national are ra Pidly achieving a national highway system, 
highway It is said that when the 184,000 miles of road in¬ 
cluded in the Federal Aid system are completed, 
they will connect “practically every city or town of 5,000 or 
more inhabitants in the United States. Practically 90 per cent 
of the nation’s population will live within ten miles of a Federal 
Aid Road, and practically all the remaining 10 per cent will be 
that close to a state road.” 1 

One may now drive from one border of the country to the 
other, in either direction, over transcontinental highways, 
Highway guided by uniform route numbers on markers by 
marking the ro adside and safeguarded against danger by 
easily identified warning signals. This is the result of fine team 
work among national and state highway officials through the 
Joint Board of Interstate Highways and the American Associa¬ 
tion of Highway Officials. “The highways designated by these 
agencies are main transcontinental routes with an aggregate 
mileage of approximately 94,000 miles. The several routes have 
been identified by numbers which distinguish them from other 
roads in the states through which they pass. The north-and- 
south routes are designated by odd numbers, with Route No. 1 
paralleling the Atlantic Coast from Maine to Florida, Route 
No. 101 running the length of the Pacific Coast, and others 

1 Highway Transportation, Report of Highway Transport Committee, American 
Section, International Chamber of Commerce, 1927. 


ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION 


265 


intermediate between these two. The east-and-west routes are 
identified by even numbers, with Route No. 2 crossing the conti¬ 
nent near the Canadian border and No. 90 extending from 
Florida to Southern California.” 1 

Revenues for road maintenance are derived from general taxes, 
from special tax assessments, from the sale of bonds, or from taxes 
and fees paid by users of automobiles. In 1927, 45 Revenues for 
states imposed a tax upon gasoline for this purpose, highways 

Explain particular ways in which country roads are of importance to 
your city. 

Do the residents of your city help pay for country road improvement in 
your vicinity ? If so, how ? 

Do bad country roads in your vicinity cost the people of your city any¬ 
thing? Explain. 

To what extent is transportation by motor truck being used between 
your city and other cities? What advantages and disadvantages does it 
present ? What effect has it had upon road improvement ? 

Report on the organization and work of the state highway board of your 
state. 

Has your state a system of “state highways”? If so, trace on a map the 
routes of these highways. Report on their history and their value. 

Report on the history of the Cumberland Road. Show its route on a map. 

What and where is the “Lincoln Highway”? The Lee Highway? The 
Jefferson Highway? 

Report on the work of the Bureau of Public Roads. 

Those who live in the most remote rural communities have a 

vital interest in the nation’s transportation system, including 

railways and steamship lines. As we have seen ^ . , 

. J . , . , . - The nation’s 

(p. 203), there was the closest relation between interest in 

the building of railroads and the opening of the |[ a ^ sporta " 

public lands. The market of the farmer and the 

source of his supplies are not merely the neighboring trading 

center, but in far distant parts of the country and of the world. 

Without railroads the farmer, the manufacturer, and the city 

merchant would alike be helpless. 

1 Highway Transportation , Report of Highway Transport Committee, American 
Section, International Chamber of Commerce, p. 19. 


266 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


While our government has at times given direct aid to encour¬ 
age the building of railroads, as by the gift of public lands, they 
Government have been developed chiefly by private enterprise, 
control of They are owned by private corporations which do 
business under charters granted by the state gov¬ 
ernments (rarely by the national government) and regulated by 
law. Control over them has been exercised chiefly by the state 



A Railroad Yard Congested with Coal Trains at a Time when Near-by 
Cities were Suffering from Lack of Fuel 

governments, except in matters affecting interstate commerce, 
which falls under the control of Congress. As the parts of our 
country have become more closely bound together and inter¬ 
dependent, largely by the influence of the railroads themselves, 
an increasingly large part of commerce has become “interstate ” 
in character, and railway transportation has become more and 
more a national concern. The result is an increasing control 
by the national government. 

In 1887 Congress created an Interstate Commerce Commis¬ 
sion with power to inquire into the management of the business 
of “common carriers,” such as railroads, steamship lines, 




ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION 


267 


and express companies. It was later given power to fix rates 
which such carriers could charge. Other laws were passed, 
such as the Sherman Act, or “Anti-Trust Law,” interstate 
of 1890, which made unlawful any “contract, com- commerce 
bination ... or conspiracy in restraint of trade.” These and 
other laws checked abuses that characterized railroad manage¬ 
ment at that time, but, on the other hand, they are said in 
some respects to have hampered the economic and efficient 
development of the country’s transportation system. The 
Sherman Law, for example, absolutely forbade the consolida¬ 
tion of competing railroad lines under one management, although 
such consolidation often makes for efficiency and economy. 

When the United States entered the World War, the weakness 
of our transportation system quickly became apparent, and the 
need for the most effective transportation service Government 
led the government to take unusual steps to secure railroad^ 
it. The President issued a proclamation by which, tion in 
in the exercise of his war powers , he “took posses- war 
sion and assumed control of each and every system of trans¬ 
portation in the United States and the appurtenances thereof.” 
This meant assuming control over 397,000 miles of railways 
owned by 2905 corporations and employing more than 
1,700,000 persons. The management of this great transpor¬ 
tation system was intrusted to a Railroad Administration 
with a Director General of Railroads at its head. The owner¬ 
ship of these railroads, however, remained with the private 
companies, which were to receive compensation for the use of 
their property. After the war the management of the railroads 
was restored to their owners. 

The whole purpose of the government in its management of 
the railroads was to win the war, the convenience Advantages of 
of the public being a minor consideration. The government 
people cheerfully put up with inconveniences of mana s ement 
travel and with rates that they had not experienced while 


268 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


the roads were under private management. On the other hand, 
there were certain decided advantages in the management 
of all railroads as one great system. It meant the consoli¬ 
dation of competing lines that the law itself prevented the rail¬ 
way companies from effecting, it meant shortening routes in 
many cases, the use of common freight terminals by different 
lines, the increase of track facilities and storage areas at seaport 
terminals, the selling of passenger tickets good over any one of 
several roads running between two points. 

There are those who believe that the railroads should be 
managed, or even owned, by the government in time of peace 
as well as during war. There are others who believe as strongly 
in private ownership and direction. Many of the latter believe, 
however, that a more perfect control should be exercised over 
the privately owned roads by the government under laws that 
protect the interests of the public and that at the same time 
permit, or even require, greater cooperation among the roads 
than has heretofore existed. Since the war, bills have been 
introduced in Congress looking to these ends, and doubtless the 
experience of the war will result in an appreciable improvement 
in our country’s railway transportation system. 

In the early days of our nation, rivers were used for transpor¬ 
tation to a large extent, and canals were proposed in great 
Water trans- numbers, some of them being built and carrying a 
portation large amount of traffic. The coming of the rail¬ 
roads caused water transportation to decline, to the nation’s 
great loss. The war stimulated the use of our waterways to a 
considerable extent, and any scheme for transportation control 
in the future should provide for their fullest development as 
a means of marketing the products of our farms, forests, mines, 
and factories. 

There was also a time, in the early part of our history, when 
our seaports swarmed with American ships that sailed every 
sea. Our shipping afterward declined because other nations 



ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION 269 

built and manned ships more cheaply than we could do. We 
allowed these other nations to carry our commerce. We 
deplored the fact that our merchant marine had disappeared, 
and discussed ways and means to restore it. But all to no 
purpose, until the great war came; then we had to have ships. 


Brown Brothers 

S. S. Vigilancia, Unloading at Wilmington, Delaware 

In 1916, Congress created the United States Shipping Board 

and its Emergency Fleet Corporation. As a result, and within 

a year’s time, the United States took rank as the ^ 

J . ... 1 1 t 1 1 Effect of war 

leading shipbuilding nation in the world. It had up(m our 

more shipyards, more shipways, more ship workers, 

more ships under construction, and was building 

more ships every month during the war than any other country. 

As we have seen before, it became necessary to “scrap” 

many of the merchant ships built during the war, partly because 

pf their unfitness for peace-time commerce. Also, now that the 



270 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


war emergency was over, opposition to government ownership 
and operation made itself felt. Congress passed an Act in 1920 
Policy of which in effect declared the policy of our govern- 
Government ment to be “to do whatever may be necessary to 
develop and encourage the maintenance of a merchant marine, ” 
large enough to handle the major part of our foreign commerce, 
but there has been a great difference of opinion as to how this 
might best be done. 

The present policy of our government is to transfer the opera¬ 
tion of our merchant marine to private corporations as rapidly 
as that can be done with guarantees of continued 
efficient operation, meanwhile maintaining mer¬ 
chant lines of its own under the direction of the 
United States Shipping Board through the Mer- 
Corporation (known until March, 1927, as the 
Fleet Corporation). The American merchant 
marine is now second in size only to that of Great Britain, the 
gross tonnage of the two countries in 1926 being 14,878,761 and 
22,270,124 respectively. 

By our merchant marine the American farmer and the 
American business man are brought into touch with the re¬ 
motest parts of the earth. 

Investigate and report on: 


Shipping 
Board and 
Fleet 

Corporation 

chant Fleet 
Emergency 


The service of the railroads to the farmers of your county. To the mer¬ 
chants of your town. 

The story of the building of the first transcontinental railway. 

State control of railroads in your state. 

Experiences of your community with respect to railroad rate discrim¬ 
ination. 

The work of the Interstate Commerce Commission. 

The ports to which our merchant vessels go. 

The cargoes which they carry. 

What farm products from your neighborhood are shipped abroad. 

The work of the Merchant Fleet Corporation. 


ROADS AND TRANSPORTATION 


271 


The work of the United States Railway Administration during the war. 
Advantages and disadvantages of government control of railroads during 
the war. 

The war powers of the President. 

Arguments for and against government ownership of railroads. 

Electric interurban railways in your county and state. What they 
mean to the farmer and to the city resident. 

The work of the United States Coast Survey. 

The history of the American merchant marine. 

The development of the American merchant marine during the recent 
war. 

The building of “fabricated ships.” 

The life of a sailor to-day as compared with that of 100 years ago. 

The dependence of the American farmer upon the merchant marine. 

READINGS 

County reports relating to road construction and improvement. 

Reports of State Highway Commission. 

State management of public roads, Year Book, U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
1914, pp. 211-226. 

Publications of Bureau of Public Roads, U. S. Department of Agriculture. Write 
also to Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, 
for price list of documents relating to the subject of roads. 

Farmers’ Bulletins relating to marketing and transportation facilities, U. S. Depart¬ 
ment of Agriculture. 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series A: Lesson 26, Concentration of control in the railroad industry. 

Series B : Lesson 27, Good roads. 

Series C: Lesson 25, A seaport as a center of concentration of population and 
wealth. 

Lesson 27, Early transportation in the Far West. 

Lesson 28, The first railway across the continent. 

Consult public library for magazine literature on the subject of roads, railroads, 
river transportation, etc. For example, in the Review of Reviews, February, 
1918, there are the following articles: 

“Uncle Sam Takes the Railroads.” 

“The World’s Greatest Port” (New York). 

“New York Canals a Transportation Resource.” 

“River Navigation — a War Measure.” 

Trade Routes and Shipping Service, U. S. Shipping Board, Merchant Fleet Corpo¬ 
ration, Washington, D.C. (March, 1927). 


CHAPTER XVIII 


COMMUNICATION 

Roads and other means of transportation are important 
not only as a means of transporting products, but also as a 
means of communication among the members of the community. 
Team work is impossible without prompt and effective means of 
communication. 


Tell what you know about the value of signals in getting team work in a 
football or baseball team. 

Discuss the importance of means of communication in conducting military 
operations. What means were used for this purpose in our army in France? 

How were military movements reported and directed in the Revolution¬ 
ary War? 

Andrew Jackson’s victory at New Orleans was won a month after the 
War of 1812 was officially ended. How did this happen? 

What were some of the methods used by the American Indians to convey 
information between distant points? 


One of the most interesting chapters in history is that relating 
to the development of means of communication. Language 
itself is the most important of these means. It is 

Language 

as a means not altogether clear what the first steps were in 
cation imUni " t ^ ie development spoken language; but we 
know that among uncivilized peoples conversation 
is aided, and often largely carried on, by signs made with the 
hands. Written language certainly developed from the use of 
pictures, which were gradually curtailed into hieroglyphics , such 
as were used by the ancient Egyptians, and finally developed 
into the alphabet , each letter of which was originally a picture. 


A story is told of a group of American Indians who some years ago visited 
an eastern city. They could not make themselves understood, nor could 

272 


COMMUNICATION 


273 


they understand others, and became very lonely. They were taken to 
visit a deaf-and-dumb institution, where they were quite delighted to find 
that they could converse freely by the use of a natural sign language. 

Uncivilized peoples are in the habit of conveying ideas in the most 
astonishing ways. For example, among a certain African tribe the gift of 
a tooth brush carries a message of affection. These Africans take great 
pride in their white teeth, and the tooth brush carries the message, “As I 
think of my teeth morning, noon, and night, so I think often of you.” 

To illustrate the development of the alphabet from pictures, our letter 
M represents the ears of an owl, which in Egypt was called mu, and the pic¬ 
ture of which, later reduced to the ears, came to represent the sound of m. 



Communication on the Battle Front 

The fascinating story of the development of language cannot 

be told here. It is referred to because we are likely to forget 

what an important factor it is in making community Effects of 

life possible. Differences of language have been iUiteraey and 

inability 

one of the principal obstacles to the development to use 
of international understanding and cooperation. Engllsh 
But inability to use a common language is equally an obstacle 
to national and community life. Hence the danger of a large 
non-English-speaking element in our population. Then there 



V 


274 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

are the five million people of ten years of age or over in our 
population who are illiterate. 

The United States Bureau of Education points out that “the 
illiterate individual finds that many jobs are closed to him be¬ 
cause they require ability to read and write; consequently he is 
restricted to low-paid labor, frequently unskilled, a low standard 
of living, and few advantages. In hard times the low-paid man 
is usually laid off first because he is most easily replaced when 
good times return.” Many accidents are due to inability to read 
signs and warnings. 

But it is not the individual alone who suffers through illiteracy. 
“The community as a whole is seriously interested in the amount 
of illiteracy,” the Bureau of Education Bulletin goes on to say. 
“Low earning capacity, low standards of living, and low average 
of wealth all go hand in hand with illiteracy; thus the State is 
probably more concerned with the economic aspect of illiteracy 
than with the personal inconvenience of the illiterate. As a 
purely business proposition expenditures properly applied to the 
reduction of illiteracy are profitable to the State as a whole and 
thus to most of its population as individuals.” 

Due mainly to an active campaign against illiteracy in recent 
years, there was a decrease of 27.74 per cent in the number of 
illiterates in the United States between 1900 and 1910, and of 
32.04 per cent between 1910 and 1920. Many other nations 
also are seeking to stamp out illiteracy. 

What is “illiteracy”? What is the difference between an “illiterate” 
and a non-English-speaking person ? 

Debate (or discuss): 

Resolved, That all persons of sound mind in the United States should be 
required by law to attend school until they are able to speak, read, and write 
English fluently. 

Resolved, That the elimination of illiteracy and the teaching of English to 
foreigners should be left wholly to the states without interference or aid 
from the national government. 


COMMUNICATION 275 

Why are foreigners required to read sections from the Constitution of 
the United States before they receive their “naturalization” papers? 

What does “knowing how to read” mean? 

Debate: 

Resolved , That no native-born American should be permitted to vote 
who cannot read intelligently. 

What is being done in your community and in your state to eradicate 
illiteracy and to teach English to foreigners? 



Arrival of the Mail, Tanana, Alaska 


Next to language itself, the most important invention for the 
communication of ideas is the art of printing. It made possible 
the book, the magazine, the newspaper. The The printing 
writer of this book is enabled to communicate press and 
with boys and girls whom he will never see by news P a P ers 
means of the printed page and the pictures which the book 
contains. By the same means the ideas of people who lived 
long ago have been handed down to us, and the ideas of to-day 
will be passed on to later generations. Most wonderful is the 
modern newspaper, which daily carries into almost every home 
of the land the important happenings in the world during the 
preceding twenty-four hours. In cities several editions are 






276 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


printed during the day. The newspaper enables the merchant 
to communicate, through advertisements, with possible buyers, 
and the farmer and business man to keep posted regarding crop 
conditions and market prices. Most newspapers have special 
departments for different classes of readers — a woman’s page, 
a children’s column, a page devoted to sports, another to 
market conditions. Most of them also have a department in 
which individuals may ask questions or express their own 



United States Mail en Route, Alaska 


opinions regarding questions of the day. The “local news¬ 
paper,” with a circulation that seldom extends far beyond the 
county in which it is published, is of the greatest value in 
stimulating a community spirit. 

The right of The first amendment to the Constitution of 
free speech the United States provides that: 

Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom of speech or of 
the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble. . . . 

The right of free speech and of a free press is a very sacred 
one, and its maintenance is one of the chief safeguards of democ¬ 
racy. It is the means by which public opinion is formed and 
made known; and public opinion is one of the chief means of 
control in a democracy. It controls the conduct of individuals, 



COMMUNICATION 


277 


and it controls the actions of government. The representatives 
and leaders of the people in the government seek constantly to 
know what public opinion is, and the public press is one of the 
chief channels through which they may find out. On the other 
hand, leaders and parties seek to form public opinion, to lead 
the people to think in certain ways and to support certain ideas. 
The press affords an effective means for doing this. 

It is easy to see that both good leaders and bad leaders may 

thus create public opinion, that both good and bad ideas may 

be spread through the press. During the war we 
1 , , 1 , . Propaganda 

heard much about enemy propaganda. 1 his means 

that ideas were systematically spread to create a public opinion 

favorable to the enemy cause. But propaganda was not all on 

the enemy side. It was carried on by our own government to 

create a strong public opinion in its support. Propaganda is 

usually organized on both sides of a disputed question. When 

the peace conference at Paris proposed a plan for a League of 

Nations, it was at once taken up for discussion through the 

newspapers and magazines, on the public platform, and in other 

ways. People who believed in the idea organized The develop _ 

a campaign of publicity to support the plan and to ment of 

create a public opinion for it, while those opposed to publlc °P imon 

it were equally active in their attempt to create a public opinion 

against it. At the present time there is organized propaganda 

for and against prohibition, and for and against the creation of 

a United States Department of Education, etc. 

Propaganda may be intelligent or unintelligent. It may be 
based on fact or on fiction. It may be insidious and vicious, 
or open and straightforward. It is often highly prejudiced. 
Writers and speakers may base their arguments on information 
that seems to be correct, but that is later shown to be false. A 
sound public opinion can be formed only by an intelligent sifting 
and weighing of all the facts. 

The good citizen cannot well get along without the newspaper 


278 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


and magazine. But he needs to keep in mind the fact that news 
items may be in error, and that the opinions expressed by editors 
and other writers usually represent the opinions of but a single 
group of people, which may be large or small, right or wrong. 
In most cases these writers are sincere, but there is always the 
chance for error. The intelligent citizen will not base his own 
opinions and actions solely on what he reads in one paper or 
magazine or book, but will seek to understand all sides of a 
question. He is helped to do this by the great variety of 
publications available representing every shade of belief, and 
by the freedom of speech and of the press under our system of 
government. 

Freedom of speech and of the press does not mean that a 
citizen may always say anything he pleases in public. At no 

time has one the right to attack the character of 
The control of ....... _. . 

free speech another by false or malicious statements. This 

and a free constitutes slander, or libel, and may be punished 

by the courts. In time of war freedom of speech 
and of the press may be restricted to an extent that would not 
be tolerated in time of peace, because if absolute freedom were 
permitted information might be made public that would be 
helpful to the enemy, and propaganda started that would be 
dangerous to the public safety. But even in war time, the 
people of a democracy chafe under restrictions upon free speech 
and a free press, and it is often a delicate question to determine 
how far such restriction is justifiable or wise. 


Make a report on the invention of the printing press. 

Is there more than one “local paper” in your town or county? Do these 
local papers take the same position in regard to public questions ? Do you 
read more than one? 

What is the most influential newspaper in your state (ask at home)? 
Why is it so influential? 

What is the difference between a news story and an editorial? 

Ask at home what newspaper editor it was who said, “Go West, young 
man.” Also find out what you can about his influence as an editor. 


COMMUNICATION 279 

Examine with care the newspapers you take at home and make a list of 
their different “departments” or “sections.” 

What do you first look for in the newspaper when you read it ? Ask your 
father and mother and other members of the family what they first look 
for. 

What is the value of cartoons in the newspaper? Do you study them? 
Do they convey a story to you? Make a collection of cartoons that you 
think are particularly good, and explain what each means. 

Is any propaganda being conducted now in the newspapers you read? 
If so, explain what it is. 

To what extent are newspaper and magazine advertisements useful in 
your home? 



Transportation and Communication 
Terminal Railway Station (right) and City Post-Office (left), Washington, D. C. 

Congress was given power by the Constitution “to establish 
post-offices and post-roads.” There had been a postal service 
in the colonies before the Revolution. During the Post _ offices 
Revolution Benjamin Franklin was made Post- and post¬ 
master General, and he made the service as effective roa 
as it could well be made under the conditions that existed in 
those times. The plan that he devised was continued after 
the Constitution was adopted. In those days mails were sent 
from New York to Boston and to Philadelphia two or three times 









28 o 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


a week. They were carried on horseback or by stage and by 
boat. Sometimes a month was consumed by a trip that can 
now be made in a half-day. Postage cost from six cents to 
twenty-five cents for each letter, according to the distance it 
was carried, and had to be paid in cash in advance. Postage 
stamps were not introduced until 1847. Often mail was allowed 
to accumulate until there was enough to pay for the trip. The 
isolation of a remote rural community can well be imagined 
where the difficulties of communication were so great, and where 
the scarcity of money made postage an important item. 

In contrast with this is the elaborate and efficient postal 
service now administered by the United States Post-Office 
Rural mail Department through its more than 50,000 post 
routes offices that serve every community in the country. 

Not only is there free house-to-house delivery in every city, but 
in 1926 there were more than 45,000 rural mail routes covering 
more than a million miles and daily serving more than 6,600,000 
families even in the most remote localities. The cost of this 
service is about $3.33 for every person served. This is one de¬ 
partment of the government that is largely, though not entirely, 
self-supporting, by reason of the sale of postage stamps and the 
requirement of fees for certain forms of service to the public. 

The Post-Office Department not only provides for the trans¬ 
portation of ordinary mail, but through its post offices it sells 
money orders for the transmission of money safely 
through the mails; it operates the parcel post by 
which merchandise may be transported, includ¬ 
ing farm produce of many kinds (see p. 158); it 
administers the postal savings system (see p. 
186). One of the interesting divisions of the Post-Office De¬ 
partment is the Division of Dead Letters, to which is returned 
all mail that fails to reach its destination. In 1926 there were 
returned to the Dead-Letter Division 24,056,928 pieces of 
mail. In these “dead letters” there were drafts, checks, money 


Special 
services of 
the Post- 
Office 

Department 


COMMUNICATION 


281 


orders, and loose money, amounting to $5,659,585.51. The 
failure of this mail to reach its proper destination is due in 
very large measure to carelessness in addressing and to failure 
to place on the envelope or package a return address. A 
great deal of loss and inconvenience could be avoided, and much 
labor and expense saved for the postal service, if every one would 
see that every piece of mail sent out is properly addressed and 
stamped, and has a return address in the upper left-hand corner. 

The efficiency of the postal service depends very largely upon 
the means of transportation, from steamship and railway lines 

down to Xransporta . 
the coun- tion of the 
try roads. mails 
Nothing else, perhaps, 
has stimulated the im¬ 
provement of roads so 
much as the rural mail 
service. It is the 
power granted by the 
Constitution to Con¬ 
gress to establish post- 
roads that enables the 
Federal government to 
aid the states in road 
improvement (see p. 
259). The develop¬ 
ment of fast mail trains 
and the introduction 
of motor-truck service 
have been important steps in the improvement of the postal 
service in city and country. The latest development is the trans¬ 
portation of mail by airplane. An aerial mail route between 
Washington, D. C., and New York City was established May 15, 
1918. Since then many air-mail routes'have been put into 



Courtesy American Magazine of Art. 

The Mail Train 
A painting by F. D. Miller. 





282 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


operation, including a through transcontinental service. The 
lighting of the air-mail route across the continent for night flying 
makes it possible for mail leaving New York after business hours 
on one day to be delivered in San Francisco by the close of the 
next. During the year ending June 30, 1926, 2,256,137 miles 
were flown with mail by airplanes, nearly a million miles of 
which were flown at night. The service is remarkably regular, 
and with few accidents. 

We need only mention the telegraph and telephone to suggest 
the important part played by them in binding together our 
The telegraph nation and the world as a whole. Without them 
and telephone the mo dern newspaper, with its daily news from 
every corner of the globe, would be impossible, our cooperation 
in the great World War would have been extremely difficult, and 
the President probably would not have left the United States to 
participate in the peace negotiations at Paris. Although the 
first telegraph line in the United States was owned and operated 
by the government as a part of the postal service, the telegraph 
service of the country has since been in the hands of private 
corporations; except that during the war the Post-Office De¬ 
partment took over the management of the telegraph and the 
telephone, as the Railroad Administration took over the trans¬ 
portation lines. 

And now the radio telegraph and the radio telephone have 
worked new wonders. In 1927 there were 18,000 radio trans¬ 
mitting stations in the United States, 72^ of which 
Radio J T 

were program-broadcasting stations. In our 

homes we hear concerts and addresses. We are directed in our 
“ setting-up exercises,” hear the weather forecasts and the reports 
of the stock market or of the ball game. Ships and airplanes 
are in constant communication with one another and with 
the land. Even photographs are transmitted by “wireless.” 
Regular telephone service across the Atlantic was made effective 
in January, 1927, 


COMMUNICATION 


283 



there are 13,500,000 telephones in the United States, 2,500,000 
of which are on farms. Figures of a recent census show that 
38.9 per cent of all farms have telephones. Service of 
The ratio varies greatly according to locality. In the rural 
Iowa 5 farms in every 6 have telephones, while in tele P hone 
South Carolina only 1 farm in 18 is so equipped. It is hard to 
conceive of how the world’s business ever got along without the 
telephone, so dependent are we upon it today. The value of 
its service is inestimable. 


United States Postal Service Air Plane 
The pilot has his route map fastened to his knee for ready reference. 

To call a neighbor and ask for the exchange of labor on certain work, as 
threshing, haying, etc., is only the work of a moment. To have a definite 
answer immediately is often worth much. To be able to ’phone 
the village storekeeper, who runs a country delivery, and ask that 
supplies be sent out is a great convenience to the housewife. To ’phone 
the implement dealer and learn whether he has needed repairs in stock 







284 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


and, if so, to have them sent out on the next trolley car, if not to ask 
him to telegraph the factory to forward them immediately by express, is a 
saving of^time that often amounts to a large saving when the planting or 
harvesting’of crops is delayed because of needed repairs. 

. . . farm homes have been saved from destruction by fire because of 
prompt help secured by word over the telephone; . . . valuable animals 
have been saved through the early arrival of the veterinarian who was 
summoned by ’phone. . . . Many an itinerant sharper’s plans have been 
frustrated. . . . The sharper in disgust turns to other fields where there 
are no telephones over which to notify his prospective victims of his game. 

Business appointments, social appointments, discussions of social and 
church plans, to say nothing of the mere friendly exchange of greeting 
over the telephone have probably compensated every owner of a rural 
telephone many times over for the expense of it, if all business advantages 
were ignored. 

... At some seasons of the year the general summons to the ’phone 
gives notice that central is ready to report the weather bureau’s prognosti¬ 
cation for the following day. . . d 

The cost of this important aid to community life has been 
reduced to a small amount in many rural districts by the organi¬ 
zation of local cooperative telephone companies. 

Ask at home, or have committee interview postmaster: 

How is the postmaster in your post-office chosen ? Are all postmasters 
chosen in the same way? 

What are first-class, second-class, third-class, and fourth-class post-offices? 

How are rural mail-carriers chosen? 

What is a “star mail route,” and how does it differ from an ordinary 
rural route? Are there any “star routes” in your county? 

What constitute first-class, second-class, third-class, and fourth-class 
mail? What is the rate of postage on each? 

Has rural mail delivery had the effect of causing road improvement in 
your county? If so, give instances. 

From the office of a local newspaper find out about the work of the 
Associated Press or similar news agency. 

Why does the work of a newspaper reporter carry with it great respon¬ 
sibility? 

1 “Rural Conveniences,” by H. E. Van Norman, in the Annals of the American 
Academy of Political and Social Science, March, 1912, p. 163. 


COMMUNICATION 285 

Who was Samuel F. B. Morse? Who is Alexander Graham Bell? 
Marconi ? 

What particular advantages has the telephone brought to your com¬ 
munity? to your home? 

Is there a cooperative telephone company in your community? If so, 
how is it organized? 

If possible, visit a telephone exchange and report on what you see. 

Write a theme on “Modern means of communication and the growth of 
a world community.” 


READINGS 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series B : Lesson 10, Telephone and telegraph. 

Series C: Lesson 1, The war and aeroplanes. 

Lesson 9, Inventions. 

The development of writing: 

Picture Writing of the American Indians, 10th Annual Report of the U. S. Bureau 
of Ethnology, 1888-1889. This is profusely illustrated and very interesting. 
The volume may be in the public library. It may be difficult to obtain, other¬ 
wise, unless through a representative in Congress. 

Tylor, E. B., Anthropology, chaps. IV-VII (D. Appleton & Co.), and Early History 
of Mankind, chaps. II-V (Henry Holt & Co.). 

Given, J. L., The Making of a Newspaper (Henry Holt & Co.). 

Annual Reports of the Postmaster General of the United States. 

Consult the Readers’ Guide at your public library for magazine articles on' illiteracy, 
air mail service, radio, television, etc. 


CHAPTER XIX 


EDUCATION 


Both the efficiency and the democracy of a community de¬ 
pend upon the extent and the kind of education it affords to 
Democracy its P eo P^ e * Autocratic Germany had a most 
depends upon thorough-going system of education, but a system 
education that made autocracy possible. The common 
people were trained to be efficient workers, and thus to con¬ 
tribute to the national strength; but they were trained to 
submit to authority, and not to exercise control over it. The 
kind of education that develops leaders was given only, to the 
few. The leaders of the German people were imposed upon 
them from above; in the United States we are supposed to 
choose our leaders. In a nation whose aim is to afford to every 
citizen an equal opportunity to make the most of himself and 
whose people are self-governing, education must be widespread, 
it must develop the power of self-direction, it must train leaders, 
and it must enable the people to choose their leaders intelli¬ 
gently. When Governor Berkeley of Virginia reported to the 
king of England in 1671, “I thank God there are no free schools 
nor printing; and I hope we shall not have these hundred 
years,” he spoke for the autocratic form of government which a 
hundred years later led the colonies to revolt, and which in 1917 
forced the United States into a world war. 

In a democracy government must be carried on largely by 
means of education. There must be trained leadership. And 
Government s i nce the aim of democratic government is to secure 
by means of team work in public affairs, the people must have 
the tools of team work, such as a common language 
and other knowledge that makes living and working together 
possible; they must have training that will enable them to 

286 


EDUCATION 


287 


contribute effectively to the community’s work, and an intelli¬ 
gent understanding of the community’s aims and ideals. And 
since government is controlled largely by public opinion (see 
p. 277), the people must have an intelligent understanding 
of the community’s problems. We had abundant illustration 
during the recent war of the extent to which our government 
not only depended upon highly educated men and women for 
leadership, but also used educational methods to secure its 
ends. (For illustrations, see pp. 82-83.) 



A Pioneer Schoolhouse (1828) 


These facts explain why public education is the largest single 
item of expense in our government (except in time of war). In 
1925 about two billion dollars were spent for public The cost of 
elementary and high schools. Some 500 million education 
dollars more were spent for private elementary and high schools, 
universities, colleges, and normal schools. 

If democracy is to be safe and efficient, every member must 
have a reasonable education. Every state now has Inequality of 
a compulsory education law, though these laws vary educational 
greatly. The age limits for compulsory school at- re( i uirements 
tendance in different states are given in the first table on the 
following page. 








288 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


The length of the school term varies from three months in 
three states to nine and one-half months in one state. Several 
states have no requirement in this matter. The i neqU aiity of 
length of time that a pupil must be in school during educational 
each of the compulsory years varies from sixty °PP° rtunity 
days to the full school term, whatever that may be. The com¬ 
pulsory school laws are not well enforced in some states. The 
table on page 289 shows the number of children of school age 
in and out of school in the several states, the number of days 
the public schools were in session, the average number of days 
of attendance by each pupil enrolled, and the rank of the state 
in each case, for the year 1923-24. 


AGE LIMITS FOR COMPULSORY ATTENDANCE 
(Bulletin, 1926, No. 22, U. S. Bureau of Education) 


Ages 

No. of States 1 

Ages 

No. of States 1 

7-i6. 


7 -i 3 . 


8-16. 


7 -iS. 


8-14. 


7-i8. 


7-17 . 


8-17 . 


8-18. 

. 3 

9-16. 


7*14 . 



— 

6-16. 


Total.. 


6-18. 




1 Includes District of Columbia. 




AGES FOR LABOR PERMITS 



(Bulletin, 1926, No. 22, U. S. 

Bureau of Education) 


Ages 

No. of States 1 

Ages 

No. of States 1 

14-16.. . . 


12 . . . 

T 

14 • • • • 


I 4 -I r 

f 

16 .... 


15-16.. 

T 

14-18. ... 


15-17. . . 

T 

IC 




1 Includes District of Columbia. 

Total. . 





























EDUCATION 


289 


School Census, Enrollment, and Attendance, 1923-24 

Bulletin, 1926, No. 22, U. S. Bureau of Education 


State 

Population 5-17 

YEARS OF AGE, 

INCLUSIVE, 1924 

Enrollment 

Public Schools 

Public schools 

Private schools 

(largely esti¬ 

mated) 

Average number 

of days schools 

were in session 

Average number 

of days attended 

by each pupil 

enrolled 

Rank in days 

schools were in 

session 

Rank in days 

attended by each 

pupil enrolled 

Alabama .... 

811,122 

601,175 

21,437 

133.4 

92.8 

48 

48 

Arizona .... 

104,030 

73,980 

2,492 

166.0 

123.2 

32 

35 

Arkansas .... 

595,827 

501,758 

4.673 

135.3 

97-9 

47 

46 

California .... 

779,692 

1,022,130 

37,765 

181.2 

125.2 

8 

33 

Colorado .... 

252,630 

247,195 

3,627 

174-0 

126.3 

22 

32 

Connecticut . 

357,885 

288,927 

61,301 

183.2 

150.8 

5 

7 

Delaware .... 

53,671 

38,573 

878 

177.3 

147.0 

15 

17 

District of Columbia 

82,896 

72,015 

12,613 

180.0 

148.8 

IO 

13 

Florida .... 

298,897 

266,318 

6,796 

143.3 

106.3 

43 

42 

Georgia .... 

979,684 

747,213 

13,392 

140.0 

102.2 

44 

44 

Idaho . 

138,086 

116,970 

1,656 

160.7 

122.1 

38 

36 

Illinois. 

1,646,915 

1,316,038 

204,279 

182.9 

151.8 

6 

6 

Indiana .... 

730,455 

623,566 

37,817 

172.0 

152.6 

26 

5 

Iowa. 

604,162 

533,469 

33,796 

175.9 

148.3 

18 

14 

Kansas .... 

470,415 

424,501 

22,762 

174.9 

150.0 

21 

9 

Kentucky .... 

716,060 

567,782 

18,042 

164.0 

119.8 

35 

38 

Louisiana .... 

575,546 

390,848 

25,234 

151.8 

116.5 

40 

39 

Maine. 

185,301 

147,106 

21,583 

175-6 

155.1 

19 

4 

Maryland .... 

371,244 

256,302 

26,455 

185.1 

147.2 

4 

16 

Massachusetts . 

932,432 

737,576 

151,558 

181.7 

149.3 

7 

11 

Michigan .... 

955,576 

818,721 

112,690 

178.0 

141-4 

13 

20 

Minnesota 

640,580 

544,445 

46,727 

178.8 

141.2 

II 

21 

Mississippi 

593,962 

572,028 

8,431 

136.8 

93.0 

45 

47 

Missouri .... 

859,1 11 

728,814 

53,116 

168.4 

1340 

31 

30 

Montana .... 

163,493 

117,793 

3,681 

170.8 

139.8 

29 

22 

Nebraska .... 

354> I 3i 

326,272 

23,778 

172.9 

139.7 

24 

23 

Nevada .... 

16,339 

15,970 

40 

178.6 

138.2 

12 

28 

New Hampshire 

101,739 

74,354 

26,638 

172.6 

1391 

25 

26 

New Jersey . 

841,768 

664,496 

41,214 

188.0 

157.6 

2 

2 

New Mexico . 

114,067 

88,828 

5,826 

172.0 

124.8 

27 

34 

New York 

2,495,992 

1,932,651 

125,289 

187.8 

156.5 

3 

3 

North Carolina . 

899,026 

793,046 

23,282 

143-4 

103.3 

42 

43 

North Dakota . 

215,685 

174-797 

3,73i 

165.0 

136.2 

33 

29 

Ohio. 

1,426,637 

1,200,117 

104,354 

176.7 

149.2 

16 

12 

Oklahoma 

695,607 

653.700 

4-073 

163.5 

110.3 

36 

41 

Oregon .... 

194,395 

175,510 

12,916 

173-9 

147.8 

23 

15 

Pennsylvania 

2,409,525 

1,803,163 

192,829 

181.1 

150.2 

9 

8 

Rhode Island 

151,095 

105,900 

26,882 

194.6 

164.1 

I 

1 

South Carolina . 

599,634 

467,425 

9,103 

119.0 

82.6 

49 

49 

South Dakota . 

184,384 

162,588 

4,087 

I7I.5 

139.3 

28 

24 

Tennessee 

731,945 

657,234 

22,900 

148.4 

I0I.2 

41 

45 

Texas. 

1,499,344 

1,194.655 

17,774 

135.5 

no.7 

46 

40 

Utah. 

146,738 

130,322 

3.915 

168.8 

142.7 

30 

19 

Vermont .... 

84,796 

64,113 

7,54i 

161.5 

144-9 

37 

18 

Virginia .... 

718,738 

556,078 

13,475 

160.0 

120.2 

39 

37 

Washington . 

336,686 

316,890 

25,694 

177.3 

138.4 

14 

27 

West Virginia 

471,119 

399,410 

8,571 

164.8 

128.2 

34 

31 

Wisconsin 

701,928 

535,755 

89,387 

176.6 

150.0 

17 

10 

Wyoming .... 

54.921 

51,748 

1,164 

175-0 

139.2 

20 

25 

United States 

29,345,911 

24,288,808 

1,727,264 

168.3 

132.5 

— 

— 


































290 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 



Study the table on the opposite page. It shows the com¬ 
parative amounts of money spent by our federal, state, and local 
governments for several items of public interest. Do you think 
the proportions are fair ? 


1. Pennsylvania. 

2. Nebraska. 

3. Wisconsin. 

Some Typical Country Schools 


Why would it not be more democratic to permit children to attend 
school or not as they or their parents wish? 

Discuss the statement that “education makes people free.” Compare 
this statement with a somewhat similar statement made on page 136, 
Chapter XI. 

What is the compulsory school age in your state ? 

Is wide variation in the compulsory school age among the different 
states a good thing? Why? 

Is the compulsory school law rigidly enforced in your state? How is it 
enforced? 
























































292 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


How much of each year must a child spend in school during the com¬ 
pulsory period in your state? 

Investigate the reasons given by pupils in your community for leaving 
school before completing the course, and report. 

What rank does your state hold with respect to length of term? to 
average daily attendance of pupils? (See table.) 

What rank does your state hold with respect to number of children of 
school age in and out of school? (See table.) 

What is the length of your own school year? Do you think it should be 
lengthened? Why? 

Get from your teacher or principal the average daily attendance for 
each pupil enrolled in your school; in your county. Do you think this 
record could be improved? 

Is there any good reason why the school year should be shorter in rural 
communities than in cities? 

It is advocated by many that schools should be open the year round. 
What advantages can you see in the plan? Debate the question. 

The pioneer family was dependent at first upon its own efforts 
for the education of its children. When other families came, 
The district a schoolhouse was built, a teacher employed, and 
school the work of teaching the elements of knowledge 

was handed over to the school. This was the origin of the 
“district school,” which is characteristic of pioneer conditions. 
As the population grew and local government was organized, 
the unit of local government tended to become the unit for 
school administration. In New England this was the “town” 
or township; in the South it was the county; in the West it 
was sometimes the township and sometimes the county, or 
else a combination of the two. In a large number of the western 
states, however, and in a few of the eastern states, the district 
school persists in many rural communities, a relic of pioneer 
conditions. It is often felt that it is more democratic for 
each district to administer its own school, subject only to the 
laws of the state. 

Under the district system there is an annual school meeting 
of the voters of the district, who vote the school taxes, determine 



Diagrams of Organization 
I. County System. II. State System. 


293 












































































294 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


the length of the school year, and elect a board of education or 
school trustees. The trustees look after the school property, 
choose the teacher and fix his salary, and in a general way 
manage the school business. Each school is independent of 
all other schools. 

Under the township system all of the schools of the town¬ 
ship are administered by a township board or committee (or 
Township by a single trustee in Indiana) elected by the 
organization people of the township. The chief advantages 
over the district system are that all the schools of the township 
are administered by a single plan, the taxes are apportioned to 
the schools according to needs, and pupils may be transferred 
from one school to another at convenience. In New England 
two or three townships are sometimes united into a “union 
district” supervised by a single superintendent. 

Under the county system all the schools of the county are 
under the management of a county board and, usually, a county 
County superintendent. In 25 of the 38 states that have 

organization county superintendents they are elected by the 
people, in others they are appointed by the county board, in 
Delaware they are appointed by the governor, and in New 
Jersey by the state commissioner of education. Election of the 
county superintendent is losing favor on the ground that there 
is less assurance of securing a highly trained man. The chart 
on page 293 shows a plan of organization for county schools 
proposed to the legislature of South Dakota by the United States 
Bureau of Education. 

Among the advantages of the county system are greater 

Advantages economy, more nearly equal educational oppor- 

of school tunity for all children of the county, and better 

consolidation • • 1 - , , . 

supervision because of the larger funds available 
for this purpose. It is under the county system of organization 
that the movement for school consolidation is progressing most 
rapidly. By this is meant the union of a number of small, 


EDUCATION 


295 


poorly equipped schools into a larger, well-graded, and well- 
equipped school. Its advantages may best be suggested by an 
example. 

In Randolph County, Indiana, there were, in 1908, 128 one-room schools 
in the open country, with an attendance of from 12 to 60 pupils doing 
grade work only; 6 two-room schools in hamlets, with grade work only; 2 
three-room schools in villages, with grade work and two years of high school 
work with a six months’ term; 3 four-room village schools, with grade 



The First Step Toward Consolidation at Rolee, Iowa 


While waiting for the new consolidated school building to be erected, the one-room 
buildings of the schools to be consolidated were moved from their widely separated 
sites to the new site. 

work and three years of high school work with a six months’ term; 1 six- 
room school in a town, with grade work and four years of high school work 
with an eight months’ term. 

By consolidation, 113 one-room schools and 4 two-room schools were 
supplanted by 20 consolidated schools with two grade teachers; 6 with four 
grade teachers; 6 with five grade teachers; 2 with six grade teachers; and 
1 with eight grade teachers — a total of 86 grade teachers doing the work 
formerly done by 148 teachers, and doing it better. Fifteen of the schools 
have a four-year high school course with an eight months’ term. For the 
five-year period preceding consolidation not more than half of the eighth- 
grade pupils attended high school; after consolidation an average of 96 
per cent of the eighth-grade pupils went to high school. 

The pupils are transported to and from school in hacks or motor-busses 
heated in winter. The school buildings are equipped with running water, 






296 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 



modern heating and sanitation, telephone, rest rooms for pupils and teachers, 
gymnasiums and outdoor physical apparatus, physical training and athletic 
competition being carried on under supervision. The courses of study have 
been enriched, increased attention is given to vocational work, and music 
and art receive attention impossible in the district schools. Eleven of the 
schools have orchestras, and concerts are held which the community as 
well as the schools attend. There are auditoriums used for community 
lectures and concerts, Sunday-school conventions, community sings, parent- 
teachers’ meetings, and exhibits of various kinds. 


The New Consolidated School at Rolfe, Iowa 

Report on the following: 

School life in colonial New England; in colonial Virginia. 

The first schools in your own community — length of school term, 
attendance, whether private or public, qualifications of teachers, methods 
of teaching. 

What the family does for the education of the children that the school 
cannot do. What the school does that the family cannot do. 

Organization of the schools in your district, township, county, or city. 
Advantages of graded schools over ungraded schools. 

Consolidation of schools in your county or state. 

Debate the question: The district school is more democratic than the 
county organization. 

Method of selection of the superintendent of your county and town. 
Length of term of office. 

Organization, powers, mode of election, etc., of your local board of 
education. 







EDUCATION ‘ 297 

Authority, or lack of authority, of your county superintendent over the 
schools of cities and large towns in the county. 

Qualifications prescribed for teachers in your county or town. How 
selected. 

How are school books selected? Are they free to pupils? Advantages 
and disadvantages of free textbooks. 

Evidence that public education is or is not a matter of common interest 
to the people of your community. 


Jordan High School, Salt Lake City, Utah 

Examples of team work, or lack of it, in your community in the interest 
of the schools. 

Are the methods by which school authorities are chosen in your com¬ 
munity calculated to secure the best leadership? 

How the duties relating to the schools are divided between your school 
board and the superintendent. Does your board perform any duties that 
should be performed by the superintendent, or vice versa ? Explain. 

Parent-teacher organizations in your community and their service. 

Public education was long restricted to the elementary school. 
High schools were at first private academies designed to prepare 
for college the few who wished to continue their education. 
While they still continue to give preparation for college, their 
development in recent years has been largely for the benefit of 








298 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

the greater number of boys and girls who do not expect to go to 
Development C0 ^ e S e - The high school naturally made its first 
of the appearance in cities. It requires more elaborate 

high school equipment and more highly trained teachers, and 
its cost is at least twice that of elementary schools. These facts, 
together with the small and scattered population of rural com¬ 
munities, have been obstacles to the development of rural high 
schools. The consolidated school has in large measure removed 
these obstacles, and a high school education is rapidly becoming as 
available for rural boys and girls as for those who live in cities. 

Report on: 

The history of high school development in your community. 

The percentage of pupils in your community who go to high school after 
completing the elementary school. 

“What the high school does for my community.” 

“My reasons for going (or not going) to high school.” 

The cost per pupil in the high school in your community as compared 
with that in the elementary school. 

Education must not only be within the reach of every citizen 
of a democracy, but it must be of a kind that will fit him to play 
well his part as a member of the community. 

The public schools now give more attention than formerly 
to the physical education and welfare of the pupils (see Chapter 
Education xx > PP- 3i4, 315)- The wide prevalence of 

for physical physical defects disclosed in the effort to raise an 

army during the recent war will doubtless cause 
still greater emphasis to be placed on this aspect of education. 
Physical fitness is the foundation of good citizenship. Provision 
for physical education and welfare has found its way into 
rural schools more slowly than in city schools, as the following 
table shows. But our nation can be neither efficient nor fully 
democratic until the physical well-being of all its citizens is 
provided for, and the responsibility rests largely with the pub- 
lie school. 


EDUCATION 


299 


Health Work in City and Rural Schools of the United States 1 


Activity 

For City Children 

For Country Children 

Medical inspection laws 

In 12 states required 

In 7 states required 

in 23 states. 

for cities only. 

for rural schools. 

Medical inspection 
practiced. 

In over 400 cities. 

In parts of 130 coun¬ 
ties in 13 states. 

Dental inspection by 
dentists. 

In 69 cities. 

Permitted in 2 states 
but not yet provided. 

Dental clinics. 

In 50 cities. 

In one rural county 
(St. John’s County, 
Florida). 

Clinics for eye and nose 

In cities. 

None. 

defects. 



Nurses. 

Open air classes. 

750 in 135 cities. 

In cities only. 

In 12-20 rural districts. 

Athletics and recrea¬ 

Practically all cities 

Little provision in ru¬ 

tion; organized with 

and large towns. 

ral schools. 

appropriate facilities 
and equipment. 


In a few scattered 
schools in 9 states. 

Warm lunches in schools. 

In over 90 cities in 
21 states. 


It is a part of the business of education to fit every citizen 
to earn a living, for every efficient citizen must be self-supporting 
and able to contribute effectively to the productive E( j uca tion for 
work of the community. The interdependence of vocational 
all occupations in modern industry and the ness 
necessity for every worker to be a specialist make training 
essential for every worker who is to attain success for himself 
and contribute his full share to the community’s work. The 
war emphasized strongly the nation’s dependence upon trained 
workers in every field of industry. 

One of the direct results of war needs was the passage by 
Congress, in 1917, of the Smith-Hughes Act, providing for 

1 Adapted from Dr. Thomas D. Wood, in New York Times Magazine, April 2, 
1916. 










300 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


national 
years of 

National 
aid for 
vocational 
education 


aid for vocational instruction for persons over 14 
age who have already entered upon, or are preparing 
to enter, some trade. The instruction given under 
the terms of this act must be of less than college 
grade. Every state in the Union has met the 
conditions imposed by this law. 


The Smith-Hughes Act created a Federal Board for Vocational Education 
to consist of the Secretaries of the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce 
and Labor, the United States Commissioner of Education, and three citizens 
appointed by the President, one to represent labor interests, one commercial 



Domestic Science in the Jordan High School 


and manufacturing interests, and the third agricultural interests. The law 
appropriates national funds to be given to the state for the establishment 
of vocational schools and for the training of teachers for these schools; 
but each state must appropriate an amount equal to that received from the 
national government. Each state must also have a board for vocational 
education, through which the national board has its dealings with the state. 


The duty of the regular elementary and high schools is not to 

. cultivate special vocational skills: not to turn out 

Breadth of . , ^ . . ’ _ 

preparation trained farmers, or mechanics, and so on. But 


for vocational the work of these schools should be such that their 
life 

graduates will be better farmers, or mechanics, or 
lawyers, or doctors, or engineers, or teachers, than they would 



EDUCATION 


3 01 


be without it. First of all these schools should produce workers 
who are physically fit for the work they enter. They should 
educate the hand and the eye along with the brain. They 
should cultivate habits of working together, give instruction 
regarding the significance of all work in community and national 
life, and by every means possible prepare the pupil to make a 
wise choice of vocation (see p. 135). Moreover, the schools 
should provide a breadth of education that will “ transmute days 
of dreary work into happier lives.” 



The Gymnasium in the Jordan High School 


Mr. Herbert Quick in his story of “The Brown Making life 
Mouse,” which is a plea for better rural schools, educational 
says: 

Let us cease thinking so much of agricultural education, and devote 
ourselves to educational agriculture. So will the nation be made strong. 

The life we live, even on the farm, is full of science and history, 
civics and economics, arithmetic and geography, poetry and 
art. The modern school helps the pupil to find these things in 
his daily life and, having found them, to apply them to living 
for his profit and enjoyment. For this reason it works largely 



302 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


through the “home project,” boys’ and girls’ clubs, gardening, 
and many other activities. 

A recent writer has said, 

What is the true end of American education ? Is it life or a living ? . . . 
Education finds itself face to face with a bigger thing than life or the getting 
of a living. It is face to face with a big enough thing to die for in France, 
a big enough thing to go to school for in America. . . . Neither life nor 
the getting of a living, but living together , this must be the single public end 
of a common Dublic education hereafter. 1 


A “Teacherage” 

Home of the Principal, Jordan High School. 

Education The more nearly the conditions of living in the 

for living school community correspond to the conditions of 

living in the community outside of school, the 
better the training afforded for living together. In many 
schools the spirit and methods of community life prevail, even to 
the extent of school government in which the pupils participate. 

1 D. R. Sharp, “Patrons of Democracy,” in Atlantic Monthly , November, 1919, 
p. 650. 







EDUCATION 


303 



Of this community pupils and teachers are members with certain common 
interests. Cooperation is the keynote of the community life. The realiza¬ 
tion of this cooperation is seen in the classrooms, in study halls, in the assem¬ 
bly room, in the corridors, on the playground. It manifests itself in the 
method of preparing and conducting recitations; in the care of school 
property; in protecting the rights of younger children; in maintaining the 
sanitary conditions of the building and grounds; in the elimination of 
cases of “discipline” and of irregularity of attendance; in the preparation 
and conduct of opening exercises, school entertainments, and graduating 
exercises; in beautifying the school grounds; in the making of repairs and 
equipment for “our school”; in fact, in every aspect of the school life. 1 


“Making Life Educational” 

The schoolhouse is becoming more and more the center of 
community life. We have noticed how, in Randolph County, 
Indiana, the consolidated school building affords a The school as 
meeting place for all sorts of community activities a community 
(p. 296). The school law of California provides center 
that: 

1 “Civic Education in Elementary Schools,” p. 31, United States Bureau of Ed¬ 
ucation Bulletin, 1915, No. 17. 







304 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


There is hereby established a civic center at each and every public 
schoolhouse within the State of California, where the citizens of the respec¬ 
tive public school districts . . . may engage in supervised recreational 
activities, and where they may meet and discuss . . . any and all subjects 
and questions which in their judgment may appertain to the educational, 
political, economic, artistic, and moral interests of the respective com¬ 
munities in which they may reside; Provided, that such use of said public 
schoolhouse and grounds for said meetings shall in no wise interfere with 
such use and occupancy of said public schoolhouse and grounds as is now, 
or hereafter may be, required for the purpose of said public schools of the 
State of California. 

Investigate and report on the following: 

Provision in your school and in the schools of your state for health work 
suggested in the table on page 299. 

Other provisions in your school for the physical well-being of pupils. 

The work of your school that relates directly to preparation for earning 
a living. 

The extent to which a high school can make a farmer. 

The operation of the Smith-Hughes Act in your state and in your county 
or town. 

The meaning of the quotation from “The Brown Mouse” on page 301. 

The use of “home projects” by your school. 

The meaning of the statement that the end of public education is “neither 
life nor the getting of a living, but living together.” 

Differences and similarities between the government of your school and 
that of the community in which you live. The wisdom of making them 
more alike. 

Different plans of “pupil self-government.” (See references.) 

Uses to which the schoolhouses of your community are, or might be, 
put. 

Hours per week and weeks per year during which your schoolhouse is 
used. 

Economy (or lack of it) in allowing schoolhouses to stand idle most of 
the time. 

The community center idea. (See references.) 

Educational work for adults in your community. 

Educational agencies in your community besides schools. 

The schools of the local community are a part of the state 
school system. Education is considered a duty of the state, 


EDUCATION 


305 


though it is performed largely by local agencies. The consti¬ 
tutions of all states make provision for it. State control and 
support of education are necessary if there is to gtate organ _ 
be equality of educational opportunity for all chil- ization for 
dren of the state. Every state has a department of educatlon 
education, and in most states each local community receives a 
portion of a general state tax for school purposes. The state 
departments of education differ widely from one another both 
in organization and in the effectiveness of their work. In most 
states there is a state board of education, composed sometimes 
of certain state officials, including the governor and the state 
superintendent of education, sometimes of citizens appointed 
for this purpose alone by the governor or (in four states) by the 
legislature. In only one state is it elected by popular vote. 
In all states there is also a chief educational officer, usually called 
state superintendent or commissioner of education or of public 
instruction. In several states women hold this position. The 
state superintendent is sometimes elected by popular vote, 
sometimes appointed by the state board of education or by the 
governor. Under the state superintendent there are deputy 
superintendents, heads of departments, and supervisors of the 
various branches of educational work. The diagram on page 
293 shows a plan of organization proposed for one state by the 
United States Bureau of Education. 

The extent of the supervision and control exercised by the 
state department of education over the schools of the state varies 
within wide limits. In some cases it is very little. Relation of 
In many states there are state courses of study that state to local 
are followed more or less closely by local com- organizatlon 
munities. In a number of states the textbooks used by all 
schools are selected either by the state board of education or 
by a special state textbook commission. In New York State 
the examination questions used in all schools are prepared by 
the state educational authorities. Some states furnish text- 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


306 

books free, and in a very few the state even prints all textbooks. 
It has not been easy to work out a well-balanced plan of state 
administration of schools that would insure a thoroughgoing 
education for the entire state, and that would at the same time 
leave sufficient freedom to local school authorities to adjust 
the work to local needs. 

Many of the states support higher educational institutions, 
such as state universities and state agricultural colleges, at 



Campus of the State Agricultural College, Madison, Wisconsin 

Higher which attendance is free for citizens of the state, 

educational There are also special state schools for defectives, 
institutions suc h as the blind and the deaf. 

The national government gave its first support to public 
education by the Ordinance of 1787 under which the Northwest 
Territory was organized. It provided that “ reli¬ 
gion, morality, and knowledge being necessary 
to good government and the happiness of man¬ 
kind, schools and the means of education shall be 
forever encouraged.” As new states were organized, 
sections of the public lands were to be reserved for school pur¬ 
poses (see p. 205). Grants of public land were also made for 


Policy of 
the national 
government 
toward 
education 




EDUCATION 


3°7 


the establishment of agricultural colleges and experiment 
stations (p. 147). We have also noted the national coopera¬ 
tion with the states for agricultural extension The United 
work and for vocational education (pp. 147, States Bureau 
300). The United States Bureau of Education is of Educatlon 
under the direction of the United States Commissioner of 
Education. It has exerted its chief influence through its 
investigations of educational methods and its numerous reports 
and other publications. It serves as a sort of educational 
“clearing house” for local and state school authorities. One of 
its chief endeavors has been to increase the educational oppor¬ 
tunities in rural communities. 

Report on the following: 

Provisions of your state constitution with regard to education. 

Cost of public schools per year to your community; your county; your 
state. 

How this cost is met in your town or county. Portion paid by the state. 

Organization of your state department of education. Compare with 
the organization of state departments in neighboring states. 

Arguments for and against the method of choosing your state board of 
education and your state superintendent. 

Do the rural schools and city schools of your state operate under the 
same state supervision? Why? 

Use of state course of study in your school and community. 

Selection of textbooks for your school. 

Advantages and disadvantages of uniform textbooks and course of 
study. Of uniform examinations throughout the state. 

Management and support of your state university. 

Qualifications for admission to the state university and state agricultural 
college. 

Why you are (or not) going to college. 

The value of the state university or agricultural college to your state. 

State educational institutions for the blind, the deaf, etc. 

Arguments for and against national control of education. 

Chief provisions of any bill now before Congress for a national Depart* 
ment of Education. 


3°8 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


READINGS 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series A: Lesson n, Education as encouraged by industry. 

Series C: Lesson 8, Preventing waste of human beings. 

In Long’s American Patriotic Prose: 

Educated men in politics (Grover Cleveland), pp. 255-257. 

The educated man and democratic ideals (Charles E. Hughes), pp. 286-288. 

In Foerster and Pierson’s American Ideals: 

The American scholar (R. W. Emerson), pp. 133-155. 

Democracy in education (P. P. Claxton), 156-157. 

Reports of local and state departments of education. 

Publications of the United States Bureau of Education. 

Latest annual report of the U. S. Commissioner of Education. These annual 
reports contain excellent summaries of every phase of education in the United 
States and in many foreign countries. 

Bulletins. Send to the Bureau for List of Available Publications. These bulle¬ 
tins relate to every important aspect of education, school organization and 
administration, etc. Many of them are of special application to rural edu¬ 
cation. 

Teachers of civics will find the following helpful: 

1915, No. 17, Civic education in elementary schools as illustrated in Indian¬ 
apolis (Government Printing Office, 5^). 

1915, No. 23, The teaching of community civics (Government Printing Office, 

10$. 

1916, No. 28, The social studies in secondary education (Government Printing 

Office, ioff).. 

1917, No. 46, The public school system of San Francisco, chapter on civic edu¬ 

cation. 

1917, No. 51, Moral values in secondary education. 

1918, No. 15, Educational survey of Elyria, Ohio, chapter on civic education 

(Government Printing Office, 30 f). 

1919, No. 50, Part 3, Civic education in the public school system of Memphis. 
Earle, Alice Morse, Child Life in Colonial Days (Macmillan). 

Dewey, John, The School and Society and Schools of To-morrow. 

Quick, Herbert, The Brown Mouse (Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis). 

Foght, H. W., The Rural Teacher and His Work. 

Jackson, Henry E., A Community Center — What it is and how to organize it. Bul¬ 
letin, 1918, No. 11, U. S. Bureau of Education. 

“Education in the United States of America.” Prepared by the U. S. Commissioner 
of Education (1927). Government Printing Office. 


CHAPTER XX 


THE COMMUNITY’S HEALTH 


Physical 
defects and 
the national 
defense 


There is nothing else that concerns the community or the 
nation so much as the health of its citizens. Of more than three 
million men between the ages of 21 and 31 examined 
for military service in 1918 only about 65 per cent 
were passed as physically fit to fight for their 
country. 1 The remaining 35 per cent were either 
totally unfit for any kind of service, or were capable only of the 
less strenuous activities connected with warfare. Most of the 
defects found could have been remedied, or prevented altogether, 
if proper care had been taken in earlier years. 

The nation loses by this physical unfitness in other ways than 
in fighting power. Investigations have shown that wage 
earners lose from their work an average of from six 
to nine days each year on account of sickness. 2 
The cost to the individual in loss of wages, doctors’ 
bills, and otherwise, is a serious matter, to say 
nothing of the absolute want to which it reduces many families 
and the suffering entailed. In addition to this, the country 
loses the wage earner’s production. Sometimes death brings 
to the family permanent loss of income, and to the nation com¬ 
plete loss of the product of the wage earner’s work. The nation 
spends large sums of money every year in providing for 
dependent families and individuals. 


Physical 
defects and 
the nation’s 
industry 


1 “Defects Found in Drafted Men,” U. S. War Department. 

2 H. H. Moore, “Public Health in the United States,” Chap. V (Harper & Bros., 
1923). 

309 


3 io 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


If each of the 50 million wage earners in the United States in 1927 lost 
6 days from work in a year, how many days’ work would the nation lose ? 
How many years of work would this amount to ? 

At $2.50 a day (is this a high wage?) how much would be lost in wages 
in a year? 

Get information regarding the cost of a long case of sickness, such as 
typhoid fever, in some family of your acquaintance (perhaps your own), 
including doctor’s bills, medicines, time lost from work, etc. 

What would such expense mean to a family living on as low wages as 
those mentioned on page 167 ? 



“Setting Up” Exercises in the Army 


Moreover, the nation loses a great deal (how much cannot 
be calculated) from the physical unfitness of many who keep 
Education on wor king, but who are not fully efficient because 
and physical of bodily defects or ailments. We see the results 
of this even in school. Pupils who lag behind their 
mates in their studies are often suffering from physical defects 
of which their teachers, and even they themselves, may be un¬ 
aware. It may be that they are ill-nourished, or that they have 
defective vision, or hearing, or teeth, or that they sleep in 



THE' COMMUNITY’S HEALTH 


311 

poorly ventilated rooms. The community does not get its 
money’s worth from its schools if its children are not in physical 
condition to profit by them. In a similar manner earning and 
productive power are reduced. 

It has usually been assumed that the people in rural districts 
are more healthy than those who live in cities; but it has been 
found that there is as much physical unfitness 
there as elsewhere. It is true that the records fi^ess^* 1 
of the war department seem to show fewer men rural com- 
rejected in rural districts as totally unfit for any 
kind of military service; but evidence of other kinds has been 
collected that indicates that some kinds of disease, at least, 
and many physical defects are more prevalent in the country 
than in the city. In The Lure of the Land , Dr. Harvey Wiley 
makes a comparison of the death rate from certain diseases 
in a few states where the figures are available for both city and 
country. Some of his figures are given in the following table. 


Death Rates per 100,000 Population in Cities and Rural Districts 1 


Disease 

State 

Rural 

City 

Typhoid 

Colorado 

37 *o 

19.1 

Typhoid 

Maryland 

43.7 

30.6 

Typhoid 

Kentucky 

49.0 

34 -o 

Influenza 

Minnesota 

10.4 

4-3 

Influenza 

Michigan 

24.8 

7-7 

Influenza 

Connecticut 

3 i .4 

19.8 

Influenza 

Indiana 

21.2 

12.0 

Influenza 

Maine 

28.7 

13.6 

Mental 

California 

5 -i 

i -5 

Mental 

Colorado 

4.0 

2.3 


Studies have been made of the comparative health of city 
and rural school children, which show results in favor of the 

1 Dr. Harvey Wiley, The Lure of the Land, Chapter VTII, “Health on the Farm,” 
pp. 53-60. 










3 12 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 



City children and country children compared, percentage average of all 
available statistics. 

former. Of 330,179 children examined in New York City 

70 per cent were found defective, while of 294,427 examined in 

1831 rural districts of Pennsylvania 75 per cent 

city ^school were defective. The preceding chart shows the 

children comparative prevalence of health defects among 
compared . x 

city and country children. 

Investigate the following: 

Meaning of “vital statistics.” Importance of vital statistics to your 



































THE COMMUNITY’S HEALTH 


313 

community. Where recorded for your county or town. What the vital 
statistics of your community for the last year show. 

Causes of deaths in your community for the last year. The percentage 
of these deaths that were “preventable.” Increase or decrease of death 
rate in your community during recent years; in your state. 

The nature of the prevailing sicknesses in your community during the 
last year. Per cent of these that were contagious. List of contagious 
diseases in the order of their prevalence. 



Death Rate in New York City (broken line) Compared with Death Rate in 
Rural New York (solid line), Showing Striking Decrease of Former and Increase 
of Latter During Recent Years. It will be seen that city’s death rate, far 
above the rural rate a few years ago, is now below it. 

Quarantine regulations in your community against contagious diseases. 
Extent to which they are observed. Who is responsible for their observance ? 
For their enforcement? 

Observe condition of sidewalks and other public places with respect to 
expectoration. Is there a law on the subject in your community? Is it 
observed or enforced? Who is responsible? Dangers from expectoration. 

Medical inspection in the schools of your county, town, and state. If 
any, its results. Kinds of defects most commonly found. How is it con¬ 
ducted? Who sends the inspectors? To what extent the homes of the 



























3i4 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


community cooperate with the schools in getting results from medical 
inspection. 


We may well ask why ill health and physical defects seem to 
be more prevalent in rural communities than in cities. The 
answer probably is, simply, that in cities they are 
prevented more effectively. The chart on page 313 
shows that while the death rate in New York 
City was 20.6 per thousand in 1900, it had declined 
to 14 per thousand in 1914; while that in the rural 
districts of New York State remained practically the same dur¬ 
ing these years (15.5 per thousand in 1900, 15.3 in 1914). 


Better 

conditions in 
cities due to 
organized 
team work 



This indicates that health conditions in the city were originally 
much worse than in the country. They were rapidly improved 
by organization for health protection. There is not the occasion, 
in rural communities, for the elaborate health-protecting organi¬ 
zation that is now found in all large cities, because the people in 
rural communities are not so completely dependent upon one an¬ 
other nor at the mercy of conditions over which, as individuals, 
they have no control. And yet even in rural communities 
physical well-being depends largely upon organized team work. 

Cities have used their school organization to combat physical 
defects and weaknesses of pupils, and that is why they make a 
better showing than rural communities in such matters as 
those shown in the table on page 312. Removing such defects 










THE COMMUNITY’S HEALTH 


315 


from young people means a stronger and more efficient adult 
population ten or twenty years from now; for these defects are 
often the causes of more serious illness in later 

TrT _. , Schools as 

years. The table on page 299, Chapter XIX, shows a n agency 

how much behind cities rural communities have for health 

. - ...... . . . . . conservation 

been m the use of their school organization for this 
purpose. The encouraging thing is, however, that rural com¬ 
munities are beginning to find the means to use their schools in 
this way. The way has been opened by school consolidation 



Free Medical Inspection in City School 


(p. 295), by the grouping of all the small and isolated schools 

of a county under a central county administration (p. 294), by 

aid from the state, both in money and in supervision, and by 

cooperation from the national government. 

Cities have extended their health-educational work to the 

adult population. This takes place in part through the schools 

also. Instruction given to children is of course „ 

, \ , , TT . . . . , Health edu- 

taken home by them. Visiting nurses employed cation for 

by the schools visit the homes. Classes for adults in 
mothers are conducted at the school in the after¬ 
noon or evening. But more than this, city boards of health, 







316 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


often in cooperation with the school authorities, conduct edu¬ 
cational campaigns by means of literature distributed to the 
homes through school children, by means of evening lectures 
and moving pictures, and through the newspapers. 

Means are not wanting for similar work in rural communities. 
The homes may be reached by the right kind of instruction in 
the schools. The classes or clubs for women con- 

Agencies for 

health educa- ducted by women county agents may be, and often 

tion in rural are, use( j as me ans of health instruction. Public 
communities . . .. . ,, . . 

meetings at the community center at the school- 

house may be devoted at times to public health problems, with 
lectures, moving pictures, and discussions. The local newspapers 
always afford a channel through which to get matters of this kind 
before the people. Local and state boards of health, the United 
States Department of Agriculture, and the Public Health Service 
may and do use these and other agencies to reach the people. 

No matter how much machinery for cooperation we may 
Responsibility have in our community, like that described above, 
of the home ft cannot help much unless every family and every 
citizen cooperates intelligently. 

In a large city a small group of men, constituting the city council, may 
inaugurate measures which will accomplish sanitary improvements at 
thousands of homes; but for the accomplishment of sanitary improvements 
at 1000 farm homes at least 1000 persons . . . must be convinced that 
the sanitary measures are needed, become informed how to apply them, 
and be willing to put them into operation. 1 


Pure air is essential to good health. It is not always easy to 
get in the crowded living and working conditions of cities. 
The impor- There it is necessary to regulate these conditions 
tance of by law, and factories and tenements are inspected 

pure air to see that they are properly ventilated and not 

overcrowded. In rural communities there is less excuse for bad 


1 Rural Sanitation, by L. L. Lumsden, Public Health Bulletin No. 94, United 
States Public Health Service, p. 10. 


THE COMMUNITY’S HEALTH 317 

air, and the responsibility for it rests more directly upon the 
individual, as illustrated on page 112, Chapter X. 

It might seem that it is nobody’s business but our own how 
we live in our homes or at our work. But bad air lessens 
vitality and nurtures disease. This reduces pro- Bad a ir and 
ductive power. Moreover, colds, influenza, and the spread 
tuberculosis (of which more than a million people of dlsease 
are constantly sick in the United States), all of which are 
nourished in bad air, may be spread by contact, or by food 
handled by those who are sick. People who live in bad air 
at home mingle with others at church, in moving picture 
theaters, at school, in the court room, and in other public meet¬ 
ing places, which are themselves often poorly ventilated. It is 
strange that court rooms, where justice is administered, schools 
where children are prepared for life, and churches where people 
worship, are so often badly ventilated. 

Report on the following: 

Is your schoolroom well ventilated? How do you know? What effect 
does poor ventilation have upon your feelings and your work ? 

If the law requires school attendance, why should it also require good 
ventilation of the school? 

If the ventilation of your school is not good, what may you do about 
it? Who is responsible for it? 

Observe and report upon the ventilation of the court rooms, moving 
picture theaters, churches, and other meeting places in your community. 

Cities go to great expense to get an abundant pure-water 
supply. It is of the greatest importance in community sanita¬ 
tion. Impure water is one of the chief sources of p^e wa t e r 
typhoid fever and other diseases of the intestines. and health 
About 47,000 persons have typhoid fever every year in the 
United States, and 10,000 are killed by it; and it is unnecessary. 
We have from three to five times as much typhoid as many 
European countries have, and for no other reason than that we 
are negligent. 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 



318 

Pure, clean, wholesome food is equally essential. We need 
not dwell upon the importance of the right kinds of food and 
Pure food well-cooked food. Much illness is caused by 

and health “spoiled” foods. Disease germs may be carried 
by food as well as by water. Tuberculosis may be carried by 
milk, either from diseased cattle, or from victims of the disease 
who handle the milk at some point in its progress from the 
dairy farm to the home. The death rate among babies is 


Good and Bad Types of Dairy Stable 

appalling, especially in cities, because of the use of milk con¬ 
taining germs of intestinal diseases. Typhoid fever may be 
contracted from milk, green vegetables, and oysters from beds 
contaminated with sewage. 

The food supply of cities passes through many hands before 
it reaches the consumer. At almost every point it is protected 
by regulations and inspection. Most of it, however, comes 
originally from the farm which is beyond the control of the 
city authorities. The producers and handlers of food products 





THE COMMUNITY’S HEALTH 


319 


in rural districts therefore owe it not only to themselves but also 
to their city neighbors to exercise every possible precaution 
against the spread of disease. Such precautions consist in 
cleanliness in handling and storing milk, butter, and meats; 
in the cleansing of milk receptacles with pure water; in the 
proper location and construction of wells; in protecting springs 
from surface drainage; in sanitary disposal of sewage and 
other wastes from the household; in protection of food against 
flies. 

In cities a great deal of attention is given to sanitation. 
Sewage is carried off by public sewers. Householders are 
required to place garbage in sanitary cans, whence sanitation 
it is collected and disposed of in such a way as not in cities 
to pollute the soil. Ashes and refuse are carried away from 
homes and shops, and the streets are cleaned daily. In rural 
communities such matters are left almost entirely to the 
householder. 

Exposed garbage, improperly built outdoor toilets, and stable 
manure are breeding places of flies; and flies are notorious 
carriers of disease. Yet, out of more than 3000 Flieg ag 
homes in one county in Indiana only 31 made pro- disease 
vision to prevent stable manure from breeding camers 
flies, and the same was true of only 1 out of more than 2000 
homes in a county in North Carolina, and only 86 out of nearly 
5000 homes in an Alabama county. 

Malaria is widespread in the United States and imposes a 
heavy toll upon the nation’s health. It is carried from one 
victim to another by a certain kind of mosquito, Danger 
of which it is comparatively easy to get rid by from 
proper drainage of breeding places, by treating the mosqmtoes 
surface of pools with kerosene, by screening, and by seeing to 
it that rain barrels are covered and that tin cans and other 
receptacles of water are not left lying around. But flies and 
mosquitoes do not stop with fences, nor do they recognize city 


320 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


or county boundaries. Hence, individual effort without com¬ 
munity cooperation is likely to be useless. 

The terrible hookworm disease so prevalent in our southern 
states is caused by a minute worm that infests soil polluted 
Polluted soil sewa S e - It penetrates the soles of the feet of 

and hook- those who go barefoot and the palms of the hands 
worm disease faose who work in the soil, finds its way through 
the blood to the intestines, and thence to the soil again. An 
investigation in 770 counties in n states where hookworm 
disease is prevalent showed that out of 287,606 farm homes 
only six tenths of one per cent disposed of their sewage in such 
a way as to prevent soil pollution. 

Out of 305 homes in a little community in Mississippi, only 4 properly 
disposed of sewage. When the first investigations were made, there were 
407 cases of hookworm disease out of 1002 residents. Besides, there had 
been recently 12 cases of tuberculosis, 47 of typhoid fever, 184 of malaria, 
and 384 of dysentery. 

Safe methods of disposing of sewage were introduced, houses were screened, 
an artesian well was bored for a public water supply, and the community 
cleaned up generally. After these improvements the various diseases 
almost entirely disappeared. Similar results were obtained in 99 other com¬ 
munities in the southern states. 1 

Topics for investigation: 

The water supply of farms in your locality. Any recent improvements. 

The public water supply (if any) of your community. Its sources. 
Method of purification. Quality of water. How the people know it is 
pure or impure. Public or private ownership of the supply. Cost to the 
householder. 

Extent to which the families represented in your class depend upon 
private wells. How many have had their well water examined to test its 
purity. How to proceed to have water tested. Who tests it? Who pays 
for the test? (If possible, visit the laboratory where the tests are made.) 

Number of cases of typhoid fever in your community, now or during last 
year. How the information can be obtained. Is the information likely 

1 Report of the Rockefeller Foundation, 1917, pp. 136-138. 


THE COMMUNITY’S HEALTH 


321 

to be accurate? Whose business is it to keep a record? Why should a rec¬ 
ord be kept ? Why should it be made public ? 

Causes of typhoid in your community. Are they preventable? How? 
Observance of quarantine against typhoid. 

How may wells become polluted? Give cases of which you may know. 
Study diagram on page 314. 

Methods of sewage disposal in your community. Laws on the subject. 
Can you suggest improvements? 



A Result of Milk Inspection 


Regulation of milk production and handling in your community: on 
the farms where it is produced; in the hands of dealers and distributors; 
in the home. Who make these regulations? 

Outline on a map the area from which your community is supplied with 
milk. Show on a map cities that are supplied by your county with dairy 
products, garden vegetables, meats, etc. 

Clean-up campaigns in your community. 

Progress and methods of fly and mosquito extermination in your com¬ 
munity. 

The work of the Rockefeller Foundation for the extermination of hook¬ 
worm disease (see references). 

Hospitals that serve your community. Where located. By whom sup¬ 
ported (private, city or town, county, state). 












322 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Health protection, like education, has been considered pri¬ 
marily the duty of the state. But many conditions affecting 
health have arisen that the state cannot com¬ 
pletely control. Chiefly under the power given 
to it by the Constitution to regulate foreign and 
interstate commerce (p. 451), Congress has 
passed many laws that protect health, placing their enforce¬ 
ment in the hands of the several departments of the national 
government. 


National 
control of 
health 

conservation 



The School Lunch 


The Department of Agriculture conducts much public health 

work, through its home demonstration agents, its Bureau of 

. Public Roads which deals with problems of farm 

Health work 

of the water supply and rural sanitation, its Bureau of 

^Agriculture Entomol °gy which wages war against flies and 
other disease-carrying insects, and its Bureau of 
Animal Industry which inspects cattle, meats, and dairy prod¬ 
ucts. The Department of Agriculture also administers the 
Food and Drugs Act, the purpose of which is to secure purity 
of food products and to require that they and medicinal drugs 
shall be labeled in such a way as to show what they contain. 










THE COMMUNITY’S HEALTH 


323 


Fraudulent and harmful “cures” and “patent medicines” may 
thus be exposed. 

The United States Public Health Service investigates diseases 
and health conditions and the means of controlling them. It 
has given considerable attention to rural sanitation. The Public 
It issues reports and other publications of great Health 
value to the citizen, some of them being listed at Service 
the end of this chapter. It has representatives in all important 
foreign ports, inspects all ships that enter American harbors, 
and holds them in quarantine until they and their passengers 
are given a clean bill of health. Cholera and other dangerous 
diseases have thus been prevented from gaining a foothold on 
American soil. 

The War Department has also waged a relentless warfare 
against disease, not only in the army itself, but also in the 
Panama Canal Zone, Cuba, Porto Rico, the Philip- Health work 
pines, and other regions occupied by the army, of other 
The Department of Labor seeks to improve the de P artments 
physical conditions of labor for both men and women, and its 
Children’s Bureau is charged with a study of all matters pertain¬ 
ing to the welfare of children. In the Department of the In¬ 
terior the Bureau of Mines has done valuable work for the 
prevention of accidents in mines and mining industries; and 
the Bureau of Education seeks to promote physical education, 
instruction in home economics, and education in the home 
relating to the care of children. In the Department of Com¬ 
merce the Census Bureau collects national vital statistics. 

A very large part of the duty of health protection must, 

however, remain with the states. Every state 

has its department of health, headed by a state responsibility 

board of health, or a commissioner of health, for health 
. , „ . protection 

or both. These departments diner greatly in 

their organization and in the extent and effectiveness of their 

work. 


3^4 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


One of the best organized state departments of health is 
that of New York. Among its most important features are 
New York (i) a public health council which has power to es- 
state tablish a state-wide sanitary code; (2) the concen- 

orgamzation t ra tion 0 f a p administrative power in the hands of a 
single state commissioner of health , who has a staff of experts 
to direct special lines of health work; and (3) a well-organized 
scheme of cooperation between the state department and local 
health authorities. 

The absence or weakness of local organization for health 
protection has been one of the obstacles to progress in physical 
L cal or an well-being in the United States. Driven by an 
ization for appalling death rate and frequent epidemics, our 
health large cities have developed health departments 

which in many cases have proved very effective. 
But in smaller communities, while health departments or health 
officers usually exist, the organization has for the most part 
been very ineffective. The people themselves have not been 
sufficiently aroused to their needs and to methods of meeting 
them. New York and Massachusetts are among the most 
progressive states in this matter. Each local community in 
these states (town, village, or small city) has its board of health 
and health officer; but these communities are grouped into 
health districts (8 in Massachusetts, 20 in New York), each 
district being in charge of a health officer appointed by the 
state commissioner or board of health. In New York the dis¬ 
trict health officer, who is there called the sanitary supervisory 
has the following duties: 


To keep informed regarding the work of each local health officer within 
his sanitary district. 

To aid the local health officers in making health surveys of the com¬ 
munity under their control. 

To aid each local health officer in the performance of his duties, par¬ 
ticularly on the appearance of contagious diseases. 

To hold conferences of local health officers. 


THE COMMUNITY’S HEALTH 


325 


To study the causes of excessive death rates. 

To promote efficient registration of births and deaths. 

To inspect all labor camps and to enforce in them all public health 
regulations. 

To inspect Indian reservations and to enforce all provisions of the sanitary 
code in them. 

To secure the cooperation of medical organizations for the improvement 
of the public health. 

To promote the information of the public in matters pertaining to the 
public health. 



Courtesy Tennessee Coal , Iron and Railroad Co . 
The Toothbrush Brigade, Fairfield, Ala. 


Another type of local health organization and of cooperation 
between local and state authorities for health protection and 
promotion has been developed in North Carolina, Example of 
where 85 per cent of the population is rural. Here North 
the county has been taken as the unit of local or- CaroUna 
ganization. Health conditions had been very bad in this state, 
hookworm disease, tuberculosis, malaria, and other diseases 
being prevalent. The state board of health, assisted by the 
Rockefeller Sanitary Commission (see above, page 320, and 








326 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


references below), began an investigation and an educational 
campaign among the people, with the result that many of the 
counties of the state now have an organization for health 
cooperation unsurpassed, perhaps, in any other state. Each 
county has a health department, which is controlled jointly by 
the state board of health and a county board of health. The 
county board of health consists of the mayor of the county seat, 
the chairman of the board of county commissioners, the county 
superintendent of schools, and two physicians of the county 
elected by the other three members. The work of the health 
department is directed by a county health officer, who is ap¬ 
pointed by the state board of health of which he is also a member. 
He has a staff of trained assistants. 

In this plan note the cooperation between state and local communities, 
between town and county officials, and between the school authorities 
and the health organization. Note, also, the leadership of specialists in 
health matters. 

Topics for investigation: 

Organization of the department of health in your community (both 
county and town): the board of health; the executive health officer or 
officers; the kinds of work done. 

Amount of money spent by your local health department for all purposes 
and for each purpose separately. Compare with the amounts spent for 
roads, for schools, and for other work of the local government. 

The interest shown by the people in your community in public health 
matters. 

Some of the more important health problems of your community. 

The leadership in your community in health matters. 

Cooperation between the state government and your local government 
in health matters. 

The more important local and state laws relating to health in your 
community. 

Organization of your state department of health. 

Local health problems that need state control. 

State health problems that need local cooperation. 

The operation of the Food and Drugs Act in your community. 


THE COMMUNITY’S HEALTH 


327 


The work of the Public Health Service. 

The extermination of yellow fever in the United States. 

The fight against the bubonic plague in California. 

The work of the War Department to maintain the health of the soldiers 
during the recent war. Volunteer agencies that cooperated in this work. 

Work done in your community for the promotion of health by the 
Department of Agriculture and the United States Public Health Service. 
The work of the Children’s Bureau of the Department of Labor. 

The inspection of immigrants. 


READINGS 

Reports of local and state boards of health. 

Publications of state agricultural college relating to public health. 

Publications of the United States Public Health Service, Washington. The follow¬ 
ing are illustrative: 

Federal Public Health Administration: Its Development and Present Status. 

Reprint No. 112, U. S. Pub. Health Reports, 1913. 

Public Health Reports. Issued weekly. 

Rural Sanitation, Pub. Health Bulletin No. 94, 1918. 

Health Insurance, Pub. Health Reports, vol, 34, No. 16, 1919. 

The Nation’s Physical Fitness, Pub. Health Reports, vol. 34, No. 13, igig. 

Good Water for Farm Homes, Pub. Health Bulletin No. 70, 1915. 

Typhoid Fever: Its Causation and Prevention, Fub. Health Bulletin No. 6g, 

1915- 

What the Farmer Can Do to Prevent Malaria, Pub. Health Reports, No. n, 
Supplement, 19x4. 

Fighting Trim: The Importance of Right Living. Supplement No. 5, Pub. 
Health Reports, 1913. 

The Transmission of Disease by Flies, Supplement No. 29, Pub. Health Reports, 
1916. 

The Citizen and Public Health, Supplement No. 4, Pub. Health Reports, 1913. 
The Department of Agriculture publications contain material relating to public 
health. For example: 

Health Laws, Year Book, 1913, pp. 125-134. 

Animal Disease and Our Food Supply, Year Book, 1915, PP- 159-172. 

Public Abattoirs in New Zealand and Australia, Year Book, i 9 i 4 > PP- 433 ~ 
436 . 

Meat Inspection Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Year Book, 
19x6, pp. 77-98. 

Sewage Disposal on the Farm, Year Book, 1916, pp. 347 - 374 - 
Clean Water and How to Get It on the Farm, Year Book, 1914, pp. 139-156. 
Dunn, The Community and the Citizen, chap. IX. 

Beard, C. A., American City Government, pp. 261-282. 


328 COMMUNITY CIVICS 

Publications of the Bureau of Education, Washington, especially those on Health 
Education. Write for a list of publications. -Some of them are as follows.* 
1910, No. 5, American schoolhouses. 

1913, No. 44, Organized health work in schools. 

No. 48, School hygiene. 

No. 52, Sanitary schoolhouses. 

1914, No. 10, Physical growth and school progress. 

No. 17, Sanitary survey of the schools of Orange County, Va. 

No. 20, The rural school and hookworm disease. 

1915, No. 4, The health of school children. 

No. 21, Schoolhouse sanitation. 

No. 50, Health of school children. 

1917, No. 50, Physical education in secondary schools. 

1919, No. 2, Standardization of medical inspection facilities. 

No. 65, The eyesight of school children. 

Publications of the Children’s Bureau, Department of Labor. 

See, for example, Rural Children in Selected Counties of North Carolina, Rural 
Child Welfare Series No. 2, and Baby-Saving Campaigns: A Preliminary 
Report on What American Cities are Doing to Prevent Infant Mortality, 
Bureau Publication No. 3. See list of publications issued by the Bureau. 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series B : Lesson 14, The United States Public Health Service. 

Series C: Lesson 19, How the city cares for health. 

Reports of the Rockefeller Foundation, 61 Broadway, New York City. 


CHAPTER XXI 


SOCIAL, ESTHETIC, AND SPIRITUAL WANTS 

Several times in the preceding chapters reference has been 
made to our national purpose “to transmute days of dreary 
work into happier lives.” This does not mean to w 

Happiness 

get rid of work; for happiness can be attained only through 
in work and through work. Happiness in work service 
depends largely upon our freedom and ability to choose the 
kind of service for which we are best fitted, and upon the ex¬ 
tent to which we prepare ourselves for it (see p. 136). It 
also depends to a large extent upon good health (p. 309). 

But there never was a truer statement than that “all work 
and no play makes Jack a dull boy.” In return for his work 
every citizen is entitled to enough compensation to Satisfaction 
enable him to provide not only for the bare neces- 0 f higher 
sities of life, such as food and shelter, but also for wants 
the pleasure that he derives from the satisfaction of his higher 
wants, such as social life and recreation, an education that will 
give him a richer enjoyment of life, pleasant surroundings, 
religious advantages. 

All these things have much to do with our national well¬ 
being and our citizenship. Our nation is democratic only in 
proportion to the equality of opportunity enjoyed Equality of 
by all citizens to satisfy these wants. Moreover, opportunity to 
the efficiency of each citizen in productive work and enioy Ufe 
as a participator in self-government depends more than we 
sometimes think upon his opportunity to “enjoy life ” in pleasant 
surroundings and in wholesome social relations. In the past 

3 2 9 


330 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


the citizen has been left largely to his own resources and to 
purely voluntary cooperation to provide for these wants. Gov¬ 
ernment has not even adequately protected his rights of this 
kind, to say nothing of positively promoting them. At present, 
however, community team work through government is being 
organized as never before both to promote and to protect the 
interests of all citizens in the fullest possible enjoyment of life. 

Recreation and Social Life 

Children enjoy play because it satisfies physical, mental, and 
social wants. But it is also the principal means by which they 
The value of prepare for the more serious duties of later life, 
play It builds up health, trains the muscles and the 

senses, and sharpens the wits. It gives practice in team work, 
develops leadership, and teaches the value of “ rules of the 
game.” Every child is entitled to an abundant opportunity to 
play, both because of the happiness it affords him and because 
by it he is trained for membership in the community. It is to 
the interest of the community to afford him the opportunity. 
It is largely for this reason that most of the states protect 
children by law from being put to work for a living at too early 
an age. 

In large cities thousands of children live in crowded districts 
where there is no place to play except in the public streets. 

_ , . x . So little appreciative have we been of the impor- 

Opporturuties , . ^ 

for play in tance of play in the development of young citizens 

Clties that great numbers of city schools have been built 

with no provision whatever for playgrounds. This mistake is 
slowly being corrected, often at great expense. No city school 
is now considered first-class if it does not have an ample and 
well-equipped playground, with competent directors to teach 
children how to get the most out of their play. Most cities 
are also establishing public playgrounds apart from the 
schools, sometimes under the management of the school board, 


SOCIAL, ESTHETIC, AND SPIRITUAL WANTS 331 



but often under that of a special playground or recreation 
commission. 

Play for the children of rural communities is as important as 
for those of cities, but even less attention has been given to it. 
Many a country school has no playground, and if pi ay i n rura i 
it has one it is likely to be small and not equipped communities 
with play apparatus. Why should there be playgrounds 
when there is all outdoors in which to play? Why should 


A Typical Rural School without a Yard 

there be expensive play apparatus and play directors when 
boys and girls can get all the “exercise” they need at home or 
on the farm? “Play” means more than mere physical exer¬ 
cise, and must be pleasurable if it is to have value. Organized 
play is as truly a means of education as any school instruction, 
and must have competent leadership or direction. In rural 
districts, where the children live far apart, there is particular 
need for a common meeting place for organized group play, and 
the school is the most appropriate place for it. 










332 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


The need for organized play in rural communities is one of 
the best arguments for school consolidation, for it brings together 
Argument for ^ ar g er numbers and makes possible the employment 
school con- of a competent play director and the proper equip- 
sohdation m ent of the playground. Teacher-training schools 
now make a point of training play leaders as well as teachers of 
arithmetic and geography. 



A “Superior” Two-Room School in Illinois 
T hree acres of ground. Teachers’ apartments in basement. 


As children grow older, an increasing part of their time must 
be given to work — school work, tasks at home, remunerative 
Meaning of employment outside of the home. After leaving 
recreation school and throughout adult life, work absorbs the 
major part of one’s time and attention. But even then, “all 
work and no play” will continue to “make Jack a dull boy.” 
We now call play “recreation,” for by it body and mind and 
spirit are refreshed, renewed, re-created , after close application 
to work. That is why school work is broken by “recesses.” 
Recreation is necessary as a means of providing for physical, 








SOCIAL, ESTHETIC, AND SPIRITUAL WANTS 333 


mental, and social wants; for the pleasure that it affords. But 
it is also important in its relation to work, for without it body 
and mind become “fagged,” people grow “stale” at their work, 
producing power and power of service are reduced. 

It is very easy to get out of the habit of play, and especially 
difficult to form the habit in adult life if it has not been done in 
youth. People often become so absorbed in work The habit of 
that there seems to be no time for recreation. In P lft y 
such cases not only is the enjoyment of life narrowed, but there 
is a risk of damaging the quality of one’s work and even of short¬ 
ening one’s life of productive activity, or of service. 



Playground of Consolidated School 


Every worker is entitled to opportunity for recreation, both 
for his own sake and for the well-being of the community. 
This means, first of all, that he must have leisure Leisure a re- 
for it. When people have to work hard for ten or quirement 
twelve or more hours a day, year in and year out, as was once 
customary in industry, there is neither time nor energy for 
wholesome recreation. That such conditions existed, and still 
exist to a considerable extent, is due to gross imperfections in 
the industrial organization of the community. One of the 
evidences of progress toward “transmuting days of dreary 



334 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


work into happier lives” is the reduction in the hours of toil in 
many industries, and the consequent increase of leisure for the 
enjoyment of life and for self-improvement. 

One of the things for which labor unions have struggled is the shorten¬ 
ing of the working day. Through their efforts, and through the awakening 
of public interest and knowledge in regard to the matter, the working 
day is now fixed by law at eight hours in most industries, often with a half 
holiday on Saturdays. Experience has shown that this change has in no 
way reduced the product of industry. There are still some industries, 
however, in which men toil at the hardest kind of labor for twelve or more 
hours a day, sometimes even including Sundays. 

A second thing necessary to afford opportunity for recreation 
is an income from one’s work sufficient to provide more than 
A living wage the bare necessities of life. Before the war, it is 
a necessity sa id, more than five million families, or about one 
fourth of the families in the United States, were trying to live 
on a wage of $50 a month, or less. During the war, wages of 
skilled and unskilled labor shot upward; but so, also, did the cost 
of living. It is not easy* to determine just what share of the 
proceeds of industry should, in justice, go to the laborer in 
wages. But it should be enough to provide not only for food 
and clothing and shelter, but also for decent family life, for 
healthful surroundings, for education for the children, and for 
wholesome recreation. 

Labor unions and others interested in a fairer distribution of the proceeds 
of industry have long been working for the enactment of “minimum wage 
laws,” that is, laws fixing the least wage that may be paid for each class of 
labor, this to be enough to provide a reasonable satisfaction of all the wants 
of life. Some states have already enacted such laws, and during the recent 
war the federal government in some cases fixed rates of wages, and appointed 
labor boards to adjust wages to the rising cost of living. 

Neither leisure nor income, however, suffice for recreation 
unless they are wisely used. Mere idleness is not recreation; 
and many people use their leisure in dissipation instead of in 


SOCIAL, AESTHETIC, AND SPIRITUAL WANTS 335 


recreation. “Dissipation” is the opposite of thrift. It means 
to “throw away,” or to be wasteful. A person may “dissi¬ 
pate” his income. We have come to under- The wise use 
stand the word “dissipation,” however, to mean of leisure 
excessive indulgence in pleasures or amusements that are 
wasteful of time, energy, or health, or all three; and we call the 



A Rural May Day at a Consolidated School 


person “dissipated” who is addicted to such indulgence. Any 
amusement, even though harmless in itself, may become dissi¬ 
pation if indulged in to excess, or at the sacrifice of other things 
that are better. 

One of the principal disadvantages often put forward against 
life in rural communities is the lack of opportunity for recrea¬ 
tion. It partly explains the difficulty of obtaining Rural oppor . 
an abundance of farm labor, and is one of the obsta- tunities for 
cles to inducing young people to remain on the recreatlon 
farm. Unfortunately, too, the women on the farm have often 
been the chief sufferers from close confinement to the drudgery 
of housework, with little opportunity for recreation and less 
chance than the men have to enjoy the companionship of other 
people. 





336 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


The very nature of farming entails hard work and long hours, 
especially at certain seasons. Under existing conditions it is 
hard to see how the farmer’s working day could be limited to 
eight hours as in most other occupations. 

The citizen farmer who lives in the same community with the miner . . . 
must invest in land and buildings, tools and livestock. He must pay taxes 
and insurance and repairs and veterinary fees. He must work often sixteen 
hours, seldom less than ten, and he must be on duty day and night, ready 
always to care for his independent plant — all this, and yet in order to re¬ 
ceive a labor income equal to that of the soft coal miner . . . the farmer 
must not only work himself as no professional laborer ever works, but he 
must also work his children without pay. 1 

Although this only too faithfully describes living conditions 
on the farm as they have been in the past and still are in many 
improved cases, much improvement has taken place. Im- 
conditions on provement of agricultural machinery and methods 
has brought a greater measure of leisure to the 
farmer, while better means of transportation and communica¬ 
tion have both saved him time and made easier for him and his 
family association with other people and the enjoyment of 
entertainment in the neighboring village or city. The farm 
woman has benefited by the introduction of labor-saving 
devices and better management in the household, and by the 
development of community cooperation in such matters as 
dairying and laundry work (see pp. 106, 107). In fact, 
better team work in every phase of the business of agriculture 
means greater opportunity for the enjoyment of living, and the 
efforts of the national and state governments to encourage such 
team work and to improve the methods of agriculture have for 
their purpose not merely the increase of the agricultural product, 
but also the greater happiness of the rural citizen. 

1 E. Davenport, Dean of the College of Agriculture, University of Illinois, in 
“Proceedings of the First National Country Life Conference,” Baltimore, 1919, 
P- 183. 


SOCIAL, ESTHETIC, AND SPIRITUAL WANTS 337 



When leisure may be found for recreation, the facilities for 
it are often inadequate. The city, and even the village, affords 
facilities for amusement and social enjoyment that Facilities for 
good roads, automobiles, and trolley lines have made dissipation 
more accessible than formerly to the country round about. 
While the urban community naturally affords greater oppor¬ 
tunity than the rural community for social recreation, its oppor- 


At the Corner Saloon 

“Almost every community has its well-known loafing place.” 

tunities for dissipation are equally great. “Going to the 
movies” may be a real recreation, or it may become a dissipa¬ 
tion when indulged in to excess without discrimination as to the 
merit of the performance. Almost every village has its well- 
known “loafing places,” and the saloon used to be a favorite 
meeting place for certain classes of people. Amusements that 
are especially harmful are more or less regulated by law. Even 
moving pictures are “censored.” Saloons have now been 
totally abolished. 













338 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


The most effective preventive of dissipation is ample provi¬ 
sion for wholesome recreation. Various agencies in urban 
Facilities for communities seek to supply this need, both for 
recreation their own residents and for visitors from outside. 
Men’s clubs, such as chambers of commerce, afford social and 
amusement advantages for the business men of the town, and 
for visiting farmers who formerly met only at the store or 
courthouse, in the saloon or on the street corner. Public 



A School Building Used as a Community Center 


libraries, often with the cooperation of women’s clubs, provide 
“rest rooms,” arranged for the comfort and entertainment of 
visiting women, and afford means of profitable and enjoyable 
recreation for young people. Town churches sometimes main¬ 
tain social rooms, open during the week for similar purposes. 
The Young Men’s and Young Women’s Christian Associations 
have performed a great service by providing entertainment and 
social life for young people. One of the more recent develop¬ 
ments is the “community center,” usually at the schoolhouse, 
where there are offered lectures and concerts, social enter- 



SOCIAL, ESTHETIC, AND SPIRITUAL WANTS 339 


tainments, dances, games, and sports. In some large cities such 
“recreation centers” are of the greatest value in the crowded 
districts. 

Rural communities have suffered from a dearth of recrea¬ 
tional facilities of their own, especially of a social type. One of 
the most promising influences to supply this defi- Opportunities 
ciency is the consolidated school , which makes afforded by 
provision for assembly halls, social gatherings, and so iidated 
recreation grounds for young and old alike. An school 
illustration of this is given in Chapter XIX (p. 296). De¬ 
velopment of community recreation centers at consolidated 
rural schools is going on rapidly in many parts of the country. 

Iowa affords a striking example of this. In that state more than 2000 
one-room country schools have been consolidated into something more than 
300, and consolidation is still going on. Some of these consolidated schools 
have five acres of land, where provision is made, not only for gardening and 
farming activities, but also for picnic grounds and for fields for athletic sports 
and contests. The buildings contain assembly halls, gymnasiums, and 
kitchens where food is prepared for social entertainments as well as for school 
lunches and for the teaching of cooking. 

One of the chief obstacles to the development of rural com¬ 
munity recreation has been the absence of leadership. The 
consolidated school helps to remedy this. Other N ee d for 
agencies, however, are doing something to provide leadership 
such leadership, among the most active of which is the county 
work department of the Young Men’s Christian Association, 
which has organized county-wide athletic associations and 
rural play festivals and field days in many localities. 

There are agencies, or organizations, in almost every com¬ 
munity that could and should serve recreational ends. The 
trouble with many of us is not so much the lack of Knowing how 
time or of the means for recreation, but a lack of to use oppor- 
knowledge of how to get the most out of our recrea- tumties 
tional opportunities. Hence the need for leadership. Hence, 


340 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


also, the need for an education that will open up to us new avenues 
of enjoyment. Recreation may be obtained not only from 
athletic sports and social entertainments, but from the fields 
and woods, from books and music and pictures, even from 
variety in our work , if we only knew how to find it. The school 
is under as great obligation to provide us with an education 
that will teach us this as it is to equip us to earn a living. 

Investigate and report on: 

The opportunities for play in your community. 

The forms of play most prevalent in your community. 

The extent to which play in your community develops team work and 
leadership. 

How your school playground could be improved. 

Play as a means of education in your school. 

Agencies besides the school that afford opportunity for play in your 
community. 

Leisure on the farms of your locality: for men; for women; for chil¬ 
dren. 

Could an eight-hour day be applied to farming in your locality? Why? 

Length of the working day for different employments in your town or 
neighboring city. 

Minimum wage laws in your state. 

Recreational facilities and agencies in your community. 

Community centers in your community and their activities. 

The value of a county field day in your community. 

Meaning of the statement that “ the boy without a playground is father 
to the man without a job.” 

Attractive Surroundings 

Beauty in one’s surroundings adds much to the enjoyment of 
life, and therefore, also, to one’s efficiency in work and as a 
Appreciation citizen. 

of that which People are often apparently blind to the beauty 
is beautiful that is around them. “ Having eyes, they see not; 
and ears, they hear not.” Those who live in the open country 
are surrounded by natural beauties of which city dwellers are 


SOCIAL, ESTHETIC, AND SPIRITUAL WANTS 



largely deprived. Too often, however, they are unconscious 
of them or indifferent to them. To the hard-working farmer a 
gorgeous sunset may be little more than a sign of the weather on 
the morrow, and the beauty of a field of wheat or corn may be 
lost in che thought of the toil that has gone into it, or of the 
dollars that may come out of it. Fortunate is the rural dweller 
whose toil and isolation are tempered by an appreciation of the 
beauties of the natural world about him ! 


Ruth’s Home Beautified 

Two views of Ruth’s home are shown on page 109. The National Government 
took so much interest in her efforts to improve her home conditions, as described 
on page 108, that the Horticultural Bureau of the Department of Agriculture 
planned for her the adornment of her home as shown here. Note what a trans¬ 
formation it maizes. 

Love for and appreciation of that which is beautiful may be 
cultivated. It is a part of one’s education. The schools now 
give more attention to it than formerly; but many j ts culti- 
of them do not yet give enough. Appreciation of vatlon 
beauty is cultivated not merely by instruction in “art,” but also 
by those studies that increase one’s knowledge of the common 
things about us. The teaching of agriculture and of science has 



342 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


a very practical purpose; but its purpose is only partly accom¬ 
plished if it teaches us how to raise corn or cotton without 
opening our eyes to the wonders of nature involved in the 
process. 

An appreciation of beauty may be cultivated, also, by associa¬ 
tion with it, as it may be destroyed by constant association with 
that which is ugly. People who live in unkempt and slovenly 
surroundings are likely to become indifferent to them. It is 
the duty of every one to have a care for the appearance of his 
surroundings both because of its effect upon himself and its 
influence upon others. 

A stranger who visits our school is likely to judge it, first 
of all, by its appearance. He will note whether or not the 
Importance of building is in good repair, the condition of the 
appearances grounds and fences, the presence or absence of 
flower beds, shrubs, and trees. Inside, he will observe the 
cleanliness and orderliness of the room, the decorations on the 
walls, the presence or absence of pictures and flowers and 
plants; yes, and also the care the pupils and teacher take of 
their personal appearance. These things are signs to the 
visitor of the interest taken by pupils, school authorities, and 
the community in their school. They are also signs of the 
character of the work done in the school, and of the happiness 
of the pupils. 

In a similar manner, the visitor to your community will form 
his first opinion of it by its appearance. He will note, first of 
A community all, the appearance of the homes, and then, prob- 
judged by ably, the cleanliness and state of repair of the 
appearances streets or r0 ads. He will observe the condition of 
the fences, and whether or not the weeds are cut along the 
roads. He will notice, also, the extent to which the people love 
flowers, and care for trees and vacant lots. All of these things 
will be signs to him of the prosperity, the happiness, the “com¬ 
munity spirit,” of the citizens. They will doubtless enter into 


SOCIAL, ESTHETIC, AND SPIRITUAL WANTS 343 


his decision as to whether or not he cares to live, or establish a 
business, or educate his children, in that community. 

In cities a good deal of attention is usually given to such 
matters, and laws exist, with government officers to administer 
them, for the protection and promotion of com- Community 
munity beauty. In rural communities these mat- interest in 
ters are left more largely to individual initiative beauty 
and voluntary cooperation. It becomes a matter of public 
interest and spirit on the part of the individual and the family. 


* 


An Attractive Rural Schoolhouse 

It is true that some things are done through government authori¬ 
ties, as in the improvement of the roads and the building of 
bridges and culverts that are of pleasing design as well as serv¬ 
iceable. In some New England “ towns ” there are “ town plan¬ 
ning” boards, which carefully plan for the laying out of streets 
and their improvement, the proper location of public buildings 
and the style of architecture to be used, the location and de¬ 
velopment of parks and playgrounds, the enactment of suitable 
housing laws, and other matters pertaining to the beauty of the 
community as well as to the well-being of its citizens (see 
p. 400). 









344 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Systematic planning of rural communities with a view to 
making them beautiful has not been carried very far in this 
Community country. In fact, as one travels over a large part 
planning 0 f the United States one is impressed by the 
monotonous and unattractive character of the towns and vil¬ 
lages. This is not true everywhere, for in some parts of the 
country, usually those that have been settled longest, one sees 
beautiful villages that fit harmoniously into the landscape. 



The Commercial Billboard Mars the Beauty of City and Rural 

Communities 


But over large areas of the country it seems that wherever man 
has gone he has marred the beauty of nature. 

There is nothing in which the influence of example is so 
quickly seen as in matters relating to appearance. People are 
Influence of prone to copy their neighbors in matters of style, 
example whether it be in dress or in architecture. 

In one rather wretched community a few boys who were studying civics 
sought permission to lay sod in the dooryard of a tenement house. Having 
obtained permission and laid the sod, it was not long before some one else 
in the neighborhood did likewise, and soon people all around were sodding 
their yards or sowing grass seed. Then they began to repair and paint their 
fences and otherwise “ tidy up ” their places, until the whole neighborhood was 
transformed in appearance. It is interesting to note, also, that as the com¬ 
munity improved in appearance, it also became less lawless than it had been. 






SOCIAL, ESTHETIC, AND SPIRITUAL WANTS 345 


This is one phase of community life in which it is easy to estab¬ 
lish leadership, and in which young people can perform valuable 
civic service and contribute materially toward “ transmuting 
days of dreary work into happier lives.” 

Investigate and report on: 

The natural beauty of your community. 

How natural beauty has been destroyed in your community. 

How natural beauty has been preserved in your community. 

Our national parks. 

How your school promotes the love for beauty. 

How your school could be made more beautiful. 

How you and your schoolmates could make your school more beautiful. 

What impression a stranger would get of your community from its appear¬ 
ance. 

The features in the appearance of your community of which you are 
proud. Those of which you are ashamed. 

Agencies that exist in your community to promote its beauty. 

Ways in which you can participate in making your community more 
beautiful. 


Religious Life and Agencies 

In some countries church and state are inseparably bound 
together. Before the recent war the Russian Czar was also the 
head of the Russian church. In our own country Government 
in colonial times, no citizen was permitted to vote and religion 
in the New England town meeting (see page 381) who did not 
belong to the Puritan church of the community. This religious 
qualification for participation in government was in the course 
of time dispensed with, and one of the fundamental principles 
of our democracy is that every citizen shall have complete 
liberty of religious belief. Our government exercises no control 
over the religious life of the people other than to guarantee this 
liberty. “Congress shall make no law respecting an estab¬ 
lishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof” 
(United States Constitution, Amendment I). State consti¬ 
tutions contain similar guarantees. To prevent government 


346 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


interference with religion, religious institutions are exempt from 
taxation. 

On the other hand, the church and other religious institutions 
are an important means of community control. They do not 
Religion a exercise this control through government, but 
means of through the influence of their own beliefs and organ¬ 
ization upon the conduct of their members. If 
everybody should live in accordance with the Golden Rule, 
there would be no need for government as a means of repression, 
but only as a means of performing service. 

One of the unfortunate things about the church has been the 
fact that more or less important differences in religious belief 
r have tended to break up the community into nu- 

ferences an merous religious groups, or churches. This may be 

obstacle to necessary in purely religious matters, but it has too 

often happened that the people have allowed their 
religious differences to prevent united action in other matters 
of common interest to the entire community. In some cases 
communities have been broken up into rival, or even hostile, 
factions because of this. There is, however, a growing toler¬ 
ance of one religious sect or denomination by others, which is in 
accord with the Christian spirit, and is necessary if community 
life is to be well developed. It often happens that there are 
more churches of the same denomination in a community than 
it can support. In such cases, at least, there is need for 
church consolidation similar to the consolidation of schools, 
and for the same reason. 

The church may be, and often is, an important agency in the 
community for the performance of services other than that of 
Social service ministering to the religious wants of the people, 
of the church Or, to speak more correctly, it has realized more or 
less fully that the religious wants of the people are closely bound 
up with their other wants, and seeks to minister to these other 
wants as a part of its religious duty. Thus, we find the church 



SOCIAL, ESTHETIC, AND SPIRITUAL WANTS 347 


Courtesy American Magazine of Art. 

The Village Church, Lyme, Conn. 

A painting by Everett Warner. 

This is a typical early New England church, where people not only worshiped, 
but also met in town meeting. (See p. 395.) 

growing more active in looking after the health interests, edu¬ 
cational interests, and social and recreational interests of its 
members and others. 





348 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Investigate and report on: 

The number of religious denominations having churches in your com¬ 
munity. 

The number of churches in each denomination. 

Membership and attendance in the churches of your community. 
Arguments for and against church consolidation in your community. 
Activities of churches in your community, other than religious. 

Religious organizations other than churches in your community. 



The Social Value of the Rural Church 


READINGS 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series A: Lesson 27, Concentration of social institutions (including the school 
and the church). 

Series B: Lesson 12, Impersonality of modern life. 

Lesson 20, The church as a social institution. 

Lesson 29, Labor organizations. 

Series C: Lesson 11, The effects of machinery on rural life. 

Lesson 29, Child labor. 

Lesson 32, Housing for workers. 









SOCIAL, /ESTHETIC, AND SPIRITUAL WANTS 349 


“Sources of Information on Play and Recreation,” by Lee F. Hanmer and Howard 
W. Knight; Department of Recreation, Russell Sage Foundation, New York 
(191S). 

The Playground. A monthly publication of the Playground and Recreation As¬ 
sociation of America, 1 Madison Ave., New York ($2 a year). 

Neighborhood Play. A manual of rural recreation (The Youth’s Companion, 
Boston). 

• McCready, S. B., Rural Science Reader. In “Rural Education Series,” H. W. Foght, 
general editor (Heath). 

Write the County Work Department, International Committee of the Y. M. C. A. 
for material. 

Foght, H. W., The Rural Teacher and His Work, Chapter VI (The rural school and 
community recreation). 

Jackson, Henry E ., A Community Center — What It Is and How to Organize It, 
U. S. Bureau of Education Bulletin, 1918, No. n. 

Quick, Herbert, “The rural awakening in its relation to civic and social center de¬ 
velopment.” Bulletin No. 474, University of Wisconsin. 

“Beautifying the Farmstead,” Farmers’ Bulletin No. 1087, U. S. Department of 
Agriculture. 

Proceedings First National Country Life Conference (address Dwight Sanderson, 
Secretary, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y.); “Play and recreation in rural 
life,” p. 95; “Religious forces for country life,” p. 83. 

Jackson, Henry E., The Community Church (Macmillan). 

Numerous “surveys” of rural communities have been made by various agencies. 
Among them are those made by the Department of Church and Country Life 
of the Board of Home Missions of the Presbyterian Church, 156 Fifth Ave., 
New York. Extensive surveys are being made by the Inter-Church World 
Movement, 45 West 18th St., New York. 

Bulletin No. 184 of the Agricultural Experiment Station, Iowa State Agricultural 
College, Ames, Iowa, contains a social survey of Orange Township, Blackhawk 
County, Iowa. 

Write your State Agricultural College or State University for possible materials of a 
local character. 


CHAPTER XXII 


DEPENDENT, DEFECTIVE, AND DELINQUENT MEMBERS OF 
THE COMMUNITY 

In every community there are some members who are not 
self-supporting and who do not contribute materially to the 
community’s progress (see Chapter V and Chapter XI, p. 128). 

The very young and the very aged come within this group. 
Both are peculiarly dependent upon others, though the aged 
Who con- may, by thrift in earlier years, have acquired a 
stitutede- competence with which to meet the needs of old 
fectfves^an^T age; and the young are expected, in later years, 
delinquents to compensate the community for the care they 
have received from others during childhood. 

There are those, also, of all ages, who are incapacitated for 
self-support and for service by disease, or by physical or mental 
defects such as bodily deformities, blindness, or feeble-minded¬ 
ness. In addition, there are some who, though physically able 
to perform service, deliberately prey upon the community in 
one manner or another without giving anything in return. 
The latter constitute the delinquent class, and include criminals. 

Normally, the needs of those who are unable to support 
themselves, whether because of extreme youth or old age or 
Relation of because of physical or mental defects, are pro¬ 
file family to vided for by the family. It frequently happens, 
the problem however, that the family is unable to perform this 
service. It may be entirely broken up. Children may be left 
without parents, and the aged without children. The natural 
supporters of the family may be stricken by disease, or by 
accident, or by financial misfortune. Moreover, the proper 
care and treatment of many defectives require better facilities 
and greater skill than can be provided even by well-to-do 

350 


DEPENDENT MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY 351 


families. Thus a class of dependents is produced — dependents 
upon the community as a whole. They may or may not be 
defectives , physical or mental. Dissipation and thriftlessness 
are two of the chief causes of dependency. 

In the lower stages of civilization it was not uncommon for 
the feeble and the helpless to be put to death, even sickly 
children and persons infirm from old age. This Treatment in 
was done in the name of community interest. The early times 
struggle for existence was so severe that the presence of non¬ 
producing or non-fighting members endangered the entire 
group. Besides, it was the belief in most cases that the sacrifice 
of the helpless simply hastened their passage into a happier life. 

Humane considerations now prevent such treatment of the 
helpless. Moreover, with our increased skill in medicine and 
surgery and education, the diseased and defective Reducing the 
may often be restored to health or fitted for some wastage of 
form of self-support that makes them happier and human llfe 
of use to the community. The wastage of human life has been 
greatly reduced in recent years. Many of the soldiers who re¬ 
turned from the war in Europe so broken in body or mind that 
in former times they would have dragged out the remainder 
of their lives a burden to themselves and to others have, by 
surgical skill and special forms of education, been restored 
wholly or partially to the ranks of the self-supporting and useful 
members of the community. This rehabilitation of the de¬ 
pendent and defective members of the community, whether 
their misfortune is due to war or other causes, is the chief aim of 
the treatment given them by the community at the present time. 

It is an accepted principle that each community should, so 
far as possible, care for its own unfortunates, and the effective¬ 
ness with which it is done varies. But every- _ 
where it has taken a long time to change from the bility of each 
old policy of mere relief to the new policy of re- commumty 
habilitation (see above). 


35 2 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


In New England and in a few other states the town, or town¬ 
ship, is the unit for administering “poor relief,” but elsewhere 
Th l ai ^ coun ty- The “almshouse,” or “poor 

almshouse farm,” or “county infirmary” is the usual local 

and its institution for this purpose. Unfortunately it has 

been, as a rule, badly managed. Men and women, 
old people and children, healthy and diseased, blind and crippled, 
moral and immoral, even the insane, have been housed together, 
often mingling with one another with little restriction. The 
evils of such a system are apparent. 

Moreover, the policy of the typical almshouse has been 
merely to give shelter and food and clothing to those who ap- 
Short-sighted peal f° r it, rather than to remedy the causes of de¬ 
policy pendency or to restore the unfortunate to a basis 

of self-support and usefulness. Medical treatment is of course 
given, but the means do not exist to give special expert treat¬ 
ment to particular classes of defectives. Little educational 
opportunity worthy of the name is afforded. While able- 
bodied inmates usually have some work to do, it is seldom 
of a character to train for self-support or to create habits of 
industry. 

To provide this special treatment requires elaborate equip¬ 
ment and expert service, which cost a great deal of money, 
Remedies more than most counties or towns feel that they 

proposed can afford. Communities must come to realize that 

they cannot afford to neglect their unfortunate members, no 
matter what it costs to care for them. But the cost need not 
be so great as it seems. A great deal of money is now wasted 
on almshouses without adequate results. This can largely be 
remedied by insisting upon more expert supervision in such 
institutions, and by a system of regular inspection by expert 
state officers. Greater care should be exercised with respect 
to those who are admitted to the institutions. Only the de¬ 
serving should be allowed to live on the public funds. It is 


DEPENDENT MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY 353 


not uncommon for some classes of shiftless people to make 
a practice of seeking shelter in the almshouse during the 
winter, where they live in comparative comfort and idleness 
at the public expense, only to leave in the spring for a life 
of aimless indolence, imposing as beggars upon kind-hearted 
people. 

Moreover, the county almshouse should be only a temporary 
place of detention for many of the people who now are kept 
there permanently. Those who need special treat- Purpose of 
ment or training should be passed on as quickly state in- 
as possible to special institutions that are equipped stltutl0ns 
to care for them. Since most local communities could not well 
afford to maintain such special institutions for the compara¬ 
tively few who would need them, the state should maintain 
enough of them at central points to provide for the needs of all 
local communities. 

The states do maintain such institutions — hospitals and 
sanitariums for various types of mental disease, homes for 
orphans and for the aged, and for persons with incurable dis¬ 
eases, asylums and schools for the blind and the deaf-and-dumb, 
industrial schools for boys and girls. The problem of the state 
is, first, to develop such institutions to the highest possible 
degree of efficiency for the rehabilitation of their patients or 
inmates, and, second, to secure effective cooperation on the part 
of local authorities and institutions in transferring those, and 
only those, who are entitled to state assistance. 

When dependents are cared for in institutions, it is called 
indoor relief; when they are cared for outside of institutions, 
in their homes, it is called outdoor relief . Outdoor 
relief requires community organization and co¬ 
operation and expert leadership quite as much as 
indoor relief. The lack of these has often resulted in great harm 
both to the community and to the needy person. Promiscuous 
giving of charity by well-intentioned persons often results 


Cooperation 
for “ out¬ 
door ” relief 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


354 

in giving to the undeserving as well as to the deserving. There 
are lazy and shiftless individuals who find it easier to live on 
charity than by honest work, and whose lack of self-respect 
permits them to do so. Sometimes they do so by fraudulent 
methods. Giving to such persons encourages pauperism and 
fraud instead of curing it. Kind-hearted people often say 
that they would rather be cheated occasionally by dishonest 
applicants for charity than to fail to help the really needy by 
too great caution. The answer to this is that by proper com¬ 
munity organization and cooperation the needy will be found 
with much greater certainty, the fraudulent will be detected, 
and the aid given to those who should have it will be much more 
effective. The citizen who turns an applicant for aid over to 
an effective organization in a great majority of cases performs 
a much greater service both to the applicant and to the com¬ 
munity than by attempting to give aid directly. A few pennies 
or a few dollars given even to a worthy applicant may not reach 
the root of the trouble at all, and may be the innocent cause of 
perpetuating the trouble. 

Many voluntary organizations exist for charitable and philan¬ 
thropic purposes. The church has always been one of the chief 
Voluntary agencies to care for the poor and unfortunate; 
agencies but there are many others, especially in our large 
cities. Sometimes they maintain hospitals and other institu¬ 
tions for the treatment of those who need indoor relief. They 
have done a great deal of good. But they are subject to the 
same difficulties that individuals encounter in dealing wisely 
with particular cases. They have often devoted themselves 
too exclusively to giving temporary relief instead of seeking 
to cure causes and to rehabilitate the unfortunate. They are 
frequently deceived by impostors. Seldom do they have 
expert investigators to follow up individual cases and to pre¬ 
scribe the most effective remedy. They frequently duplicate 
one another’s work in a wasteful manner. 


DEPENDENT MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY 355 


This lack of team work has been in large measure remedied, 
especially in city communities, by the establishment of charity 
organization societies. Such societies do not as a rule charity or- 
give direct relief, but act as a “clearing house” for ganization 
existing charitable agencies in the community. That is, they or¬ 
ganize the effort of the various existing agencies. They have 
a corps of trained investigators who look into each case reported 
by any individual or charitable agency in the community, make 
a careful record of it, and prescribe the proper treatment. The 
case is usually turned over to one of the existing agencies that is 
properly equipped to handle it. Philanthropic persons may 
turn to the charity organization society for advice as to purposes 
for which money is most needed. The aim of charity organi¬ 
zation is to remedy causes of dependency and to restore de¬ 
pendents to a self-sustaining basis so far as that is possible. 

Charity organization societies are wholly voluntary organiza¬ 
tions ; and there is need for such voluntary cooperation to care 

for the community’s unfortunate and to root out „ 

... „ . . . Governmental 

the causes of dependency. Such organizations organization 

should, however, work in cooperation with govern- for poor 
. . . . relief 

mental agencies. There are state boards ot 
charities which usually have supervision over the various state 
institutions for dependents and defectives. Every large city 
government has its department of charities, sometimes com¬ 
bined with the department of health. The “overseer of the 
poor” is one of the oldest of town officers. The care of de¬ 
pendents and defectives in small, or rural, communities has, 
however, been very poorly organized. 

An effective attack upon the public welfare problems of a R e i a ti 0 n 
state is twofold : (1) by a state welfare board and state wel- between state 
fare institutions, and (2) by town and county welfare boards and local 
and institutions. . . . organization 

Public welfare work calls for a state board of public welfare, statewide 
in authority . . . and for state institutions that are large enough to care 


356 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


for the delinquents, the dependents, the defectives, and the neglected who 
cannot be better cared for by local authority and institutions. . . . 

But, on the other hand, it calls for county boards of public welfare with 
county-wide authority and trained executive secretaries. . . . Many of 
our ills bulk up so big that they can be successfully attacked only in detail 
by local interest, local effort, and local institutions. Tuberculosis and 
poverty are capital instances of social problems that are beyond the possi¬ 
bilities of state institutions, and that necessarily wait upon organized county 
efforts of effective sort. . . . We do not know the deaf, the blind, the 
feeble-minded, the epileptic, the crippled, and the neglected or wayward 
boys and girls — their number, their names, and their residences in any 
county of the state . . . because there is at present no local organization 
charged with the responsibility of accounting for such unfortunates. . . - 1 


must be 
removed 


There will doubtless always be some dependent and defective 
members of the community for whom the community must 

care. Their number, however, may be greatly 

Causes of , , , ’ J ® J 

dependency reduced by creating conditions that will remove 

their causes. It has been reported from many 
localities, for example, that the prohibition of the 
sale of intoxicating liquors has resulted in the emptying of the 
“work houses” which communities have sustained for the con¬ 
finement of vagrants and persons convicted of petty misde¬ 
meanors. Much dependency has resulted from the crippling 
of wage earners by industrial accidents and from “industrial 
diseases” arising from work in unwholesome conditions. These 
causes may be removed by the maintenance of wholesome 
working conditions, by the installation of safety devices, and 
by the exercise of greater care by workers and employers. The 
“safety first” movement strikes at the root of much dependency. 
Inability to read signs and to understand instructions on the 
part of illiterate and foreign workers is the cause of many 
accidents. 


1 E. C. Branson, “ County responsibility for public welfare,” in the North Carolina 
Club Year Book, 1917-1918, pp. 161, 162 (University of North Carolina, Chapel 
Hill, N. C.). 


DEPENDENT MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY 357 

Some states have passed “ employers’ liability laws,” designed 
to hold employers responsible for accidents resulting from failure 
to provide safe working conditions. Others have social in- 
“workmen’s compensation laws” which provide surance 
that an injured workman shall receive a portion of his wages 
during incapacity from accident or illness. In some countries 
various forms of compulsory state insurance have been adopted. 
Germany, for example, has long had laws requiring employees 
to take out accident insurance and insurance against sickness, 
both employees and employers contributing to the insurance 
fund. Pensions for the aged and for widows are also provided 
for, the government itself contributing to the fund for this 
purpose. At the close of the year 1926, 42 of our 48 states 
had laws providing for aid by the state to mothers who were 
unable to provide properly for their children. 

The aim in our community life should be as far as possible 
to prevent dependency and not merely to relieve suffering after 
it occurs. We shall find that the problem will tend to disappear 
in proportion as we develop in our communities adequate pro¬ 
vision for health protection and physical development (Chap¬ 
ter XX), for vocational and general education (Chapter XIX), 
for wholesome recreation (Chapter XXI), for the cultivation 
of habits of thrift (Chapter XIII); and as we are successful in 
producing a right attitude toward the problem of earning a 
living and wholesome relations between employer and employee 
(Chapter XI). 

Investigate and report on: 

The rehabilitation of crippled soldiers after the war. 

Your county or town almshouse or poor farm : The kinds of cases shel¬ 
tered there; its cost to the community; the methods of treatment em¬ 
ployed. 

Other local institutions for indoor relief in your community. 

State institutions for the care of dependents and defectives in your state. 
Their kinds and location. 

The difference between “poverty” and “pauperism.” 


35» 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


The extent and kind of “charity work” done by the church which you 
attend (get accurate information). 

The voluntary organizations of your community that give “poor relief.” 
The kind of charitable work done by each. 

Charity organization in your community. Its results and the need for it. 

The causes of dependence in your community. 

The extent to which voluntary charitable work in your community is 
directed to removing the causes of dependency. 

The organization of your county or town government for the care of 
dependents and defectives. 

Employers’ liability laws, workmen’s compensation laws, mothers’ pen¬ 
sion laws, in your state. 

It is said that there are at least 250,000 people in the United 
States who make their living by crime, and there are many 
The criminal more who commit crime on occasion. It is said, 
class also, that to support and control this criminal class 

costs the people of the United States about as much money each 
year as is expended for the entire educational system of the 
country. 

Crime is the violation of law. The criminal is a member of 
the community who refuses to cooperate with others in ac¬ 
cordance with the law. The conduct of an in- 
What crime is ^—^ual ma y wron g anc f harmful to the com¬ 
munity without being criminal; it becomes criminal only when 
the law actually forbids it. A given act may be a crime in one 
state and not in another state, because the laws of the states 
differ in their definition of crimes. They also differ in the 
penalties imposed for the same crime. 

The methods of dealing with criminals have changed greatly 
with the progress of civilization, and especially in recent years 
since the causes of crime have become better under¬ 
methods of stood. In the earlier methods two ideas were 
treating^ prominent: the infliction of punishment, and the 
deterrence of others from committing the same 
offense. The penalties inflicted were therefore very severe. 


DEPENDENT MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY 359 


The death penalty was inflicted not only for taking human life, 
but also for minor offenses, such as stealing. Even in our own 
country in colonial times bodily mutilation was not uncommon, 
such as branding with a hot iron, or cutting off the ears. Prisons 
were vile and loathsome places. 

Humane feelings have caused the abandonment of such 
treatment. The death penalty still remains for the worst of 
crimes; but even it has become more humane in Rehabilitation 
its methods. Many believe that it should be en- of criminals 
tirely abandoned. The eighth amendment to the Constitution 
of the United States says that “excessive bail shall not be re¬ 
quired, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual 
punishments inflicted.” Moreover, a new idea has entered into 
the matter. It is the same idea that controls the modern treat¬ 
ment of dependents, namely, that of rehabilitating the criminal. 
It is now recognized that crime results in most cases from dis¬ 
eased conditions either in the individual or in the community. 
Some individuals commit crime merely because it seems to 
them the easiest way to make a living or to gain some other end; 
but even such individuals are morally diseased. Much crime is 
due to temporary mental disturbance, as from the use of in¬ 
toxicants or other drugs. Sometimes it is the act of persons 
who are actually insane or feeble-minded. Very often it is 
committed under pressure of poverty. 

In view of these facts, while the deliberate violator of law 
should doubtless be punished, it is even more important that 
the causes of crime should be removed, and that the criminal 
should, in as many cases as possible, be restored to a useful 
and an honest manner of life. The proper treatment of de¬ 
pendents and defectives, and the removal of causes of de¬ 
pendency and defectiveness, are essential steps toward the 
lessening of crime. 

The county jail and the town “lock-up” are the usual local 
institutions where persons suspected of having violated the 


360 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


law are detained while awaiting trial in the courts, and also 
where those convicted of petty misdemeanors are imprisoned 
The local for punishment. The jail and the “lock-up” 
i ail are as notorious as the almshouse (p. 352) for 

unwholesome conditions and mismanagement, though condi¬ 
tions have greatly improved under the influence of an awakened 
public opinion. They have often been unsanitary in the ex¬ 
treme. Prisoners have often been treated more like cattle 
than like human beings. Young and old are thrown together, 
the hardened criminal with the youthful “first offender,” and 
with those merely suspected of crime, many of whom will be 
proved to be innocent. The result is demoralizing. Our jails 
have sometimes been said to be “schools of vice and crime.” 

Two reforms, at least, are needed in local jails. First, they 
should be made as wholesome as possible, both physically 
Needed re- an d mora lly- They should be perfectly sanitary, 
form of the and the food should at least be clean and nourish- 
3ai1 ing. Arrangements should be made to keep the 

different classes of inmates separate, especially the hardened 
and vicious criminals from youthful transgressors and suspects. 
In the second place, the local jail should be merely a place of 
detention for those awaiting trial or, after trial, transfer to other 
institutions. Those found guilty by the courts should be trans¬ 
ferred as quickly as possible to institutions where they may re¬ 
ceive treatment fitted to their needs. 

Of three persons who steal ten dollars, one may be a deliberate 
thief who prefers to make his living this way; another may be 
Fitting the driven by hunger; and the third may be mentally 
unbalanced. It is obvious that the treatment ac¬ 
corded to each should be determined by these facts 
rather than by the mere amount of the theft. The first doubt¬ 
less needs punishment; but he should also have treatment 
designed to change his attitude toward the community and to 
fit him to make an honest living. The second needs to be re¬ 


treatment to 
the offender 


DEPENDENT MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY 361 


lieved of his want and to be given an opportunity for self- 
support. The third needs hospital treatment. We are only 
beginning to see that punishment is only a part of the treatment 
necessary, and that the treatment should be made to fit the 
criminal fully as much as to fit the crime. 

Proper treatment for all the various classes of cases cannot 
well be given in the county jail; nor can the local community 
as a rule afford to maintain separate institutions gtate institu _ 
for them, as the number in each class is very small tions for 
in a given community. Hence the necessity for delm( i uents 
state institutions to which those convicted in the local courts 
may be sent. Such institutions exist, although not always 
adequate to the needs of the state. They include state peni¬ 
tentiaries, reform and industrial schools, hospitals for the insane, 
special schools for the feeble-minded, and others. These in¬ 
stitutions have been steadily improving in their efficiency. 
The greater difficulty seems to be in the local communities, in 
securing the assignment of offenders to the proper institutions. 

Great changes have occurred in recent years in the methods 
of administering state penitentiaries, especially in some states. 
Under old conditions convicts were either confined Administra- 
in isolation and idleness or condemned to hard tion of state 
labor, punishment being the sole idea in both pnsons 
cases. The most rigid and arbitrary discipline was enforced. 
Modern penitentiaries keep prisoners employed in occupations 
that are of use to the state, that are designed to train the 
prisoner for useful service, and that yield him some compensa¬ 
tion that will help to make him self-supporting when he leaves. 
They also maintain schools for the instruction of prisoners in 
at least the common branches of knowledge and in vocational 
subjects. Great care is taken of the health. In some cases 
the prisoners are graded according to their conduct and their 
ability to assume responsibility, certain privileges and freedom 
and participation in the administration of the prison being 


362 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


bestowed upon them so long as they show a sense of their re¬ 
sponsibility. The period of imprisonment may be shortened 
as a reward for good conduct. 

One of the most important reforms that have been made is 
that in the treatment of juvenile offenders. The main feature 
Juvenile of this is the establishment of a juvenile court , where 

offenders the usual procedure and publicity of a criminal 

court are avoided, and where the judge takes a fatherly atti¬ 
tude toward the accused. Each case is carefully investigated 
to discover the cause of trouble and to arrive at a wise con¬ 
clusion as to the treatment to be given. In the case of first 
offenders, or where other conditions justify it, the prisoner is 
released on probation. That is, he is given his freedom on his 
honor, but under the supervision of a probation officer to whom 
he must report at regular intervals. In the case of more serious 
offenses, or of repeated wrong-doing, or of violation of parole, 
offenders are sent to reform schools or industrial schools. The 
entire effort is to set the young offender on the right road to 
honest self-support and good citizenship. Unfortunately, how¬ 
ever, this machinery for the treatment of juvenile delinquency is 
so far found almost exclusively in cities. The problem of 
juvenile delinquency in rural communities is one that requires 
more attention than has been given to it. It is a problem that 
the young citizen himself can greatly help to solve by the culti¬ 
vation, in himself and in his friends, of right conceptions of 
citizenship. 

Investigate and report on the following: 

The organization of your county and town governments to protect per¬ 
sons and property against criminals, to apprehend law violators, and to bring 
them to justice. 

The cost to your county or town of this organization. 

The desirability or undesirability of differing definitions of crime in dif¬ 
ferent states, and of different punishments for the same crime. 

The efficacy of severe punishments in preventing crime. 

Should capital punishment be abolished? 


DEPENDENT MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY 363 


The meaning of “bail,” and why it is provided for. 

The effect of prohibition upon the amount of crime in your community. 
The number of prisoners confined in your county jail during the past 
year, why they were there, and what it cost to keep them. 

The meaning of “fitting punishment to the criminal rather than to the 
crime.” 

The treatment of prisoners in your state penitentiary. 

The method of dealing with juvenile offenders in your community. 

The meaning of “probation”; of “parole”; of an “indeterminate sen¬ 
tence.” 

The extent of juvenile delinquency in your community; its causes. 

The use of convict labor outside of prisons. 

READINGS 

Reports of county and town authorities. 

Reports of state board of charities and of administrative boards of state institu¬ 
tions. 

Publications of the Children’s Bureau, U. S. Department of Labor. Send for 
list from which to select. Two valuable publications of this Bureau are: 

Bureau Publication No. 32, “Juvenile Delinquency in Rural New York.” 

Bureau Publication No. 60, “Standards of Child Welfare.” This contains 
among other valuable material, discussions of child labor and legislation re¬ 
lating to it, of the care of dependent and defective children, and of juvenile 
delinquency. 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series A: Lesson 5, The human resources of a community. 

Lesson 28, The worker in our society. 

Series C: Lesson 8, Preventing waste of human beings. 

Lesson 20, The family and social control. 

Lesson 30, Social insurance. 

The following are a few good books relating to the topics of this chapter: 

Burch, H. R., and Patterson, S. H., American Social Problems, chaps, xvi-xx 
(Macmillan). 

Henderson, C. R., Dependents, Defectives, and Delinquents. 

Warner, A. G., American Charities. 

Devine, E. T., Principles of Relief. 

Addams, Jane, Twenty Years at Hull House, and The House on Henry Street. 
Ellwood, C. A., Sociology and Modern Social Problems. 


CHAPTER XXIII 


TEAM WORK IN TAXATION 


People have never liked to pay taxes. Their repugnance to 
it is largely a survival of the times when an autocratic ruling 
class imposed taxes upon the people for its own 
of the selfish purposes. Struggling for the bare neces- 

people for sities of life, the people had to pay the bills of the 
ruling class who lived in luxury. The long struggle 
for liberty in England and in the English colonies was a struggle 
against the power of rulers to impose taxes without the consent 
of the people. The habit of mind with respect to taxation 
formed under such conditions has to a considerable extent 
persisted into the present, when conditions are very different. 

The change to government “of the people, by the people, for 
the people ” should put the paying of taxes in a very different 
Whattaxa- %ht. We decide upon a service we want per- 
tion means in formed for us, we provide the governing machinery 
a democracy perform the service, and the service must be 
paid for. We do not object to paying for having our house 
built, our food provided, our clothes made, and our goods 
hauled. Why should we object to paying for the service of 
schools, roads, protection of health and property, the defense 
of our liberties? 

Such objection seems especially unreasonable when we 
consider that the value of the service rendered by government 
The returns is, as a rule, far in excess of what it costs the in- 
from taxation dividual citizen. In Chapter XVII we saw that a 
Virginia farmer, the value of whose farm was assessed at $3000, 
was taxed $19.48 for road improvements. In return for this 

364 


TEAM WORK IN TAXATION 


36s 


he acquired the use of a system of roads throughout the county 
that cost at least $173,000. This local system connected h im 
with the transportation system of the entire country, gave 
him a market for his produce, greatly increased the value of 
his land, brought better school facilities, and enriched his life 
in many ways. 

The recent war imposed an unusually heavy burden of 
taxation upon us. But when we think of the millions of people 
who paid for the war with their lives , and of the fact that the 
war was fought for the most precious of all things, — human 
liberty, — the money tax that each citizen had to pay in some 
form or other seems very insignificant. 

In Chapter IV we read how Benjamin Franklin secured the 
services of a man to keep the pavements of the neighborhood 
clean “for the sum of sixpence per month to be Benefits of 
paid by each house.” By this bit of cooperation, team work in 
each householder was relieved of a burden, and taxatlon 
had the benefit not only of having his own pavement cleaned, 
but also of knowing that those of all his neighbors would be 
equally clean, and thus of having a pleasanter neighborhood, 
and the cost was insignificant. This incident illustrates the 
underlying principle of taxation in a self-governing community. 
The poorest citizen is made rich in the benefits that he may 
enjoy, while the cost is made proportional to his ability to pay. 

Like the rest of our governing machinery, however, our 
system of levying, collecting, and paying taxes does not always • 
work perfectly, and there is more or less ground Misuse of 
for dissatisfaction with it. In the first place, the taxes 
people do not always get full value for their taxes. While it 
is true that the farmer receives, in return for his road tax, 
vastly more than he could purchase privately with the same 
amount of money, yet, if the road improvements are poorly 
made, he gets less than he should. It usually costs as much to 
employ an inefficient road supervisor, or school teacher or 


366 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


superintendent, or sheriff, as to employ an efficient one — in 
fact, in the long run it costs more. Sometimes more persons 
are employed in government offices than there is any need for, 
or some of those employed are shirkers, or otherwise inefficient. 
There is wastefulness in the methods by which appropriations 
are made for the expenses of government (see pages 435, 468). 
Sometimes there is “graft,” by which public money is diverted 
to the private uses of officials, contractors, or others. 

Such abuses as these are, of course, not faults of the taxing 
system, but they naturally make citizens reluctant to pay taxes. 

People want to know that their money is spent 
for the purposes for which it was paid, and that 
it is used economically and effectively for these 
Nothing else will do so much to remove the dislike 
of taxation as assurance on these points. As Franklin said 
with reference to his successful experiment in street cleaning, 
it “raised a general desire to have all the streets paved, and 
made the people more willing to submit to a tax for that 
purpose.” 

A system of taxation must be just if it is to meet with popular 
approval. It is not easy, nor indeed possible, to devise a 
Taxation system that works with absolute justice in every 
must be just ca se, f or the assessment of taxes is a complicated 
process, and reliance must be placed to a considerable extent 
upon the honesty and conscientiousness of individual citizens. 
The people are satisfied, however, if they see that every reason¬ 
able effort is made to secure justice. 

The first essential in a just system is that every citizen shall 
bear his share of the burden. Therefore the paying of taxes 
is compulsory by law. It is also just that each citizen shall 
pay only in proportion to his ability. These two principles of 
taxation are similar to those applied in the selective draft for 
war service (see page 80). It is in assessing taxes according 
to ability to pay that one of the principal difficulties appears. 


A cause of 
dissatisfac¬ 
tion 

purposes. 


TEAM WORK IN TAXATION 367 

But an effort has been made to do this by the following 
procedure. 

It is first necessary to know how much money will be needed 
by the government. Each year, therefore, the heads of the 
various branches and departments of government 

i .. . <• , How the 

make an estimate for the coming year, based on amount to be 

their knowledge of past expenditures and present raised is ^ 
and future needs. Such estimate can be made 
intelligently only when there is an accurate and businesslike 
system of keeping accounts and records, and a well-planned 
budget system (see Chapter XIII, page 174). Unbusiness¬ 
like methods of keeping accounts and the lack of a budget 
system have been among the chief weaknesses of our govern¬ 
ments, equally characteristic of local, state, and national govern¬ 
ments. Efforts are being made to remedy these defects and 
are described in Chapters XXV, XXVI, and XXVII (pages 
399, 436, and 470). 

The second thing to be ascertained is the ability of each 

citizen to pay. In some states a uniform poll tax is assessed 

upon every adult citizen. This is a tax upon the 

i n i in Taxes on 

person and usually amounts to about two dollars, persons, 

Only those are exempt who are incapable of self- property, and 
support. But the chief reliance is upon a property 
tax. State and local governments depend principally upon 
a general property tax , for which purpose property is divided 
into two kinds: real estate , which includes land and buildings, 
and personal property , which includes furniture, tools, livestock, 
money, and valuables of various kinds. In addition to the 
general property tax there may be taxes upon incomes and upon 
inheritances. There are also license taxes, such as dog and 
automobile licenses. Finally there are taxes upon certain 
privileges which are bestowed upon the individual by the com¬ 
munity and have a money value. Of such a nature is the 
license tax imposed upon a peddler or upon a person who main- 


368 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


tains a market stand on the public street. Such, also, are the 
taxes placed upon corporations for the privilege of using the 
public highways for car tracks, water mains, or telephone 
poles. 

It is necessary, therefore, for the government to assess the 
value of the property (or privilege) of each citizen, and it has 
its organization for this purpose. Each local community 
The assess- (township, county, or city) has one or more tax 
ment of assessors, who endeavor to ascertain by inquiry 

values Qr inspection the value of each citizen’s property. 

The sum of the individual assessments constitutes the assess¬ 
ment valuation for the town, or county, or city; and the sum 
of the valuations of these local communities constitutes the 
valuation for the entire state. 

The third step is to ascertain the rate of taxation. This is 
found by dividing the total amount to be raised by taxation 
The rate of by the total property valuation of the county or 
taxation. state, as the case may be. If the amount to be 

raised is $500,000, and the property valuation is $10,000,000, 
the rate would be 5 per cent, and the tax is levied against each 
citizen at this rate. A citizen who owns twice as much property 
as another should pay twice as much tax. Each should pay 
according to his ability. 

This seems like a simple procedure; but it is very difficult 
to get a just result. The difficulty lies chiefly in the assess- 
Difficuity of ment - It requires a good deal of intelligence to 
just assess- assess property fairly, even with the best of in¬ 
tentions. Assessors are not always competent. 
Two assessors may differ in their judgment, so that assessments 
in one part of the community may run at a lower level than in 
another part. Thus assessments vary in their fairness in 
different townships of the same county, and in different counties 
of the same state. An attempt is made to avoid this by means 
of county and state tax equalization hoards , which seek to adjust 


TEAM WORK IN TAXATION 369 

differences of this sort. But their efforts are only partially 
successful. 

Property owners are themselves, however, more responsible 
than anyone else for the inequities of taxation in our country. 
It is a common practice of tax assessors to accept 
the property owner’s own statement of the valu- Mlky°of S1 
ation of his property. In an astonishingly large property 
proportion of cases he gives a valuation far below 
the real one. Even when the assessor inspects the property, 
it is easy to conceal from his eyes certain forms of personal 
property, such as money, stocks and bonds, and jewelry. Land 
and livestock cannot be concealed; and for this reason fanners 
are likely to pay a heavier share of taxes than others whose 
property is in less conspicuous forms. But they may make 
false valuations. 

In one state, where the law requires the assessment of real estate “at 
its true value in money when sold in the ordinary manner of sale,” a study 
in one township showed that “the average tax value of farm illustrations 
land in the open country ... is $7.89, while the average of%njust 
market value runs around $20. The 73 largest taxpayers assessments 
give in their farm holdings at values ranging from $6 to $20 an acre. 
Thus the burden of state and county support falls three or four times as 
heavily on one acre of farm land as on another — on farms lying side by side. 

“When we look at suburban farm land the tax values range from $17 to 
$2220 an acre. 

“But the most amazing ‘jokes’ appear in the values put by their owners 
on improved town lots. In the same end of the town we found three hand¬ 
some town properties worth around $15,000 each; the tax values were 
$550, $4400, $4950. In another neighborhood, two adjoining homes 
about equal in value were listed at $500 and $3400; one at about 50 per 
cent and the other at about 8 per cent of the actual value.” 

With regard to personal property in the same township, “the wealthiest 
private taxpayer in the township lists household goods and utensils, work- 
stock, vehicles, money, jewelry ... at $216. The next wealthiest private 
taxpayer covers all these properties with $105. He’s a farmer and well- 
to-do, but his household furniture, farm animals, vehicles, implements, 
and the like, are worth only $105 — on the tax list. 


37° 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


“Another large landowner covers his household goods, farm animals, 
vehicles, and the like, with $82; another with $457, and another with 
$2272. The differences lie not so much in the properties as in the con¬ 
sciences of these big landlords.” 1 


Such inequalities as these may be found in almost every tax 
list in any community. One of the strange things about it is 
Pub^ and that citizens evade taxation who would not think 
private of being dishonest or unfair in a private business 

honesty transaction. The reason is not easy to under¬ 

stand. Doubtless it is partly due to the feeling that as long 
as “everybody does it” it is justifiable. Of course this is not 
true. One taxpayer is reported as saying, “I feel dog-mean 
whenever I give in my taxes; but I’m doing as well as the rest 
and a little better than most.” 

Dishonest returns by one taxpayer defraud the citizen who 
is honest, because they place a heavier burden of taxation upon 
Good sense the l atter - Moreover, the dishonest taxpayer 
and good cheats himself along with others, for the lower the 
business valuation of property, the higher the rate of taxa¬ 
tion, or the poorer the service received from the government. 
“It is good sense and good business for a state to show up with 
large tax values and low tax rates. It shows a brisk and lively 
prosperity that is attractive to outside capital and enterprise.” 2 

To secure fairer taxation and better returns from taxation 
there is need of improvement in the organization for tax assess- 
Intelligence ment and tax equalization. It is especially inl¬ 
and publicity portant to make it more difficult for the “tax 
dodger” to evade his responsibility. It would 
seem, however, that there would be fewer “tax dodgers” if 
the people once got “the right idea” of what taxation really 
means in a democracy (see page 51). Great improvement 


1 E. C. Branson, A Township Tax-List Study; in North Carolina Club Year 
Book, 1917-1918, pp. 66, 67 (The University of North Carolina Extension Series 
No. 30). 

8 E. C. Branson, A Township Tax-List Study. 


TEAM WORK IN TAXATION 


371 


would doubtless result, even under present conditions, if honest 
citizens would take more interest in the results of assessments 
as shown in the tax lists. The writer quoted in the paragraphs 
above asserts that, next to the Bible, “the most important 
book in any county is the Tax List, and it is the one book that 
the people in general know least about.” 

Everybody knows in a vague, general way that something is wrong 
with our tax system . . . but what everybody does not know is what the 
facts are in concrete, accurate detail. There is no cure like publicity for 
wrongs in a democracy. Give the folks the facts, whatever they are, and the 
folks will do the rest. . . . But at present nobody knows the facts. That 
is to say, nobody but the tax listers, the registers, and the sheriffs. And 
they are dumb because their official lives depend on silence. 1 

Investigate and report on the following: 

Do people of your acquaintance like to pay taxes? What reasons 
do they give ? 

The cost of your town government, your county government, and your 
state government per year. 

The purposes for which most money is spent by your town government, 
your county government, and your state government. 

The assessed valuation of property in your town, county, state. 

Does the law in your state require that property shall be assessed at its 
full market value? If not, at what part of its market value? 

The tax rate in your county. Is it high or low? Reasons why it is 
high or low. 

The tax list of your town. 

The sources of revenue in your county and state, and the amount raised 
from each source. 

The work of a tax assessor in your town. 

Where taxes are paid in your community. 

Who has charge of tax collections in your community? 

What happens to a citizen in your community who fails to pay his taxes? 

The difference between “assessing” and “levying” taxes. 

Who levies the taxes in your town? county? state? 

Explain the statement that “large tax values and low tax rates attract 
outside capital and enterprise” (page 370). 

1 E. C. Branson, A Township Tax-List Study. 


372 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


We have been speaking so far of taxation for the purposes of 
state and local governments. But Congress also has power 
Taxation by “ to ^ an ^ co ^ ect taxes ... to pay the debts and 
the national provide for the common defense and general wel- 
government f are 0 £ ^ u n j te( j States ” (Constitution, Art. I, sec. 
8 , clause i). State and local governments raise most of their 
revenues by direct taxation upon the property of citizens. The 
national government, on the other hand, has always relied 
chiefly upon indirect taxation. Congress levies duties on 
imports . These duties are paid in the first instance by the 
importer. The latter, however, adds the tax to the price of 
the goods, so that it is paid finally by the consumers and not 
by the importer. In a similar manner Congress levies excise 
taxes, which are taxes upon products manufactured in this 
country. The principal excise taxes have been those levied on 
alcoholic liquors and tobacco. But here again the tax is paid by 
the consumer in the price which he pays for the liquor or tobacco. 

The chief advantage of indirect taxes is the ease and cer¬ 
tainty with which they may be collected by the government. 
Advantages The citizen pays them whenever he buys the 

of indirect articles on which the tax is levied. The retail 

dealer passes them on to the wholesaler, and so 
finally the importer is reimbursed. The government collects 
the taxes at customs houses at ports of entry, or at the tobacco 
factories and, formerly, at distilleries. Prohibition has deprived 
the government of one of its chief sources of revenue. Indirect 
taxes are also less objectionable to the people, for they are 
seldom conscious of paying them when they buy goods upon 
which they are levied. 

Congress has the power to levy direct as well as indirect taxes, 
but it has usually avoided direct taxation, partly for the reasons 
Federal stated above, and partly because the Constitution 

income tax provides that “no capitation or other direct tax 
shall be laid, unless in proportion to the census or enumeration 


TEAM WORK IN TAXATION 


373 



hereinbefore directed to be taken”; that is, in proportion to 
population. It has been found difficult in practice to make 
such apportionment. Various attempts by Congress to levy 
a direct tax on incomes have been declared unconstitutional by 
the Supreme Court because it was not so apportioned. The 
Constitution has now been amended, however, to give Congress 
the power “ to lay and collect taxes on incomes from whatever 
source derived, without apportionment among the several 


Copyright K eystone View Co. 

Aliens Filing Income Tax Returns 
New York Custom House. 

states, and without regard to any census or enumeration” 
(Amendment XVI). 

A large revenue is now derived from the* national income 
tax. The law at first exempted from it single persons whose 
income was less than $3000, and married persons whose income 
was less than $4000. As a result of the war, only those are 
now exempt whose incomes are less than $1500, if single, and 
$3500 if married, with an additional exemption for each de¬ 
pendent child. The tax is progressive: that is, the larger one’s 
income, the higher rate one pays. 










374 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


In ordinary times of peace, state and local governments 
together spend much more money than the national govern¬ 
ment. In war time the reverse is true. Enormous 

tftxcs 

sums of money were required for the conduct of the 
recent war. As a result the rates of import, excise, and income 
taxes were greatly increased, and unusual forms of taxation 
were adopted. A war tax was placed upon many articles of 
common use, an inheritance tax was imposed similar to that 
in some of the states, and the excess profits of businesses which 
the war made unusually prosperous were taxed heavily. The 
effort in every case was to distribute the tax so that every one 
should do his share, while the burden should rest most heavily 
upon those who could best bear it. 

A large part of the money necessary for war purposes, and 
for permanent improvements in time of peace, is raised by 
Government borrowing. Governments, whether national, state, 
loans or local, borrow money by the sale of bonds, the 

purchase price with interest being returned to the purchaser 
after a stated period of years. The national government 
borrowed more than 22 billion dollars during the war by the 
sale of “ liberty bonds,” and an additional large sum by the 
sale of “war savings stamps” (see page 187). These loans 
made by the people are ultimately paid off with funds raised 
by taxation. The people to-day advance money to the govern¬ 
ment, which the people of to-morrow pay back by taxation. 
This is justifiable because the war was fought for the benefit 
of future generations as well as of the people to-day. For 
the same reason, the cost of permanent improvements, such 
as roads and public buildings, is distributed over a period of 
years. 

Investigate and report on: 

The full meaning of Article I, section 8, clause 1, and section 7, clause i, 
of the Constitution. 


TEAM WORK IN TAXATION 375 

The loss to the nation of revenue as a result of the prohibition of the 
liquor traffic. 

Compensating financial gains to the nation through prohibition of the 
liquor traffic. 

Why an income tax is a good form of taxation. Why it should be 
“progressive” (page 373). 

The justice of an inheritance tax. Of a tax on excess profits. 

Articles upon which you pay an import duty. 

Why government is justified in using force to compel the payment of 
taxes. 


READINGS 

County and state reports. Local tax lists. 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series B : Lesson 22, Financing the war. 

Lesson 23, Thrift and war savings. 

The United States Treasury Department; in Federal Executive Departments, 
Bulletin, 1919, No. 74, U. S. Bureau of Education. 

In Long’s American Patriotic Prose: 

Taxation and Government (John Fiske), pp. 249-254. 

North Carolina Club Year Book, 1917-1918, pp. 49-68 (University of North Carolina 
Record, Extension Series No. 30, Chapel Hill, N. C.). 

Tufts, Jas. H., The Real Business of Living, pp. 52-54; 242-246 (Henry Holt Co.). 
Hart, A. B., Actual Government, pp. 381-429 (Longmans, Green & Co.). 

Reed, T. H., Form and Functions of American Government, pp. 468-481 (World 
Book Co.). 

Encyclopedia of American Government, under “Tax” and “Taxation.” 

Plehn, C. C., Introduction to Public Finance (Macmillan). 


CHAPTER XXIV 


HOW WE GOVERN OURSELVES 

Early in our study we considered the question why we have 
government (Chapter IV). We saw then that it is the people’s 
organization for team work in protecting and promoting their 
common interests. Succeeding chapters contain evidence that 
this is so, although they also show that the results achieved by 
government are by no means perfect. Now we ate to consider 
how we have organized to get team work and how well our 
organization is suited to its purpose. 

“American experience indicates that what men do for them¬ 
selves, on their own initiative, is better done than what pa- 
Government ternalistic government attempts to do for them.” 1 
as a pro- Americans have always disliked paternalism in gov- 

individuai eminent, which means an attempt on the part of 
initiative government to control the personal affairs of the 
people as a father (Latin, pater) controls the affairs of a 
small child. Democracy is founded on faith in the ability 
of the people to manage their own affairs with due regard 
for the equal rights of other people. We look upon our 
government chiefly as an instrument to insure an equal op¬ 
portunity to all to exercise initiative and to manage their 
own affairs; or, to use the terms we have used before, not so 
much to do things for us, as to secure team work in doing 
things for ourselves. We have had numerous examples of this 
principle in preceding chapters, one of which was the extent 


1 Editorial, Saturday Evening Post, February 12, 1921. 
376 


HOW WE GOVERN OURSELVES 377 

to which private initiative and enterprise were depended upon 
for the development of our public lands (see pp. 198-204). 

As ourcommunity life has become more complex, and as our 
dependence upon one another has become greater, we have 
gradually come to expect government to do many G t 

things for us, and to control our individual con- a s a per- 
duct in many ways, that were not thought of at for ™ er of 
an earlier time. We have had illustrations of this, 
also, in foregoing chapters. For example, whereas roads were 
at first built and controlled almost entirely by private enter¬ 
prise, now they are mostly public highways, maintained by 
state and local governments with the cooperation of the national 
government (pp. 259-264). Proposals to place railroads under 
government management have always met, and still meet, 
with opposition; but government exercises a much greater 
control over them than formerly. Even education has only 
gradually become compulsory by law, and the “public” high 
school is of recent origin. Until quite recently the people have 
been left largely to their own resources for the protection of 
health, and for recreation and social life. 

There are those who take the extreme position that govern¬ 
ment should manage practically everything for us. Such are 
the Socialists, who believe that the unequal dis- views of the 
tribution of wealth (see page 131) and the resulting Socialists 
inequalities in opportunity to satisfy wants are due to the con¬ 
trol of industry by a small and essentially selfish capitalistic 
class. They believe that all natural resources and all capital 
should belong to the people jointly, and that the people’s 
government should control both the production and the dis¬ 
tribution of wealth. 

It has been objected to the socialist scheme that, since govern¬ 
ment would still be in the hands of imperfect human beings, it 
would not be wise enough to accomplish the desired result; 
that political motives would enter into government manage- 


378 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


ment, as they do in government enterprises to-day, and would 
prevent the achievement of the desired results; and that, the 
opportunity for private initiative and enterprise having been 
removed, there would be lacking one of the chief inducements 
to human progress. 

Socialism has made considerable progress in some nations of 
the w r orld, but it is by no means popular in the United States, 
although it has many advocates. We adhere in the main to the 
principle that government should do things for us only when 
they could not be so well done by private enterprise, and should 
control our conduct only so far as to secure equality of per¬ 
sonal freedom. The fact remains, however, that an increas¬ 
ing amount of service is being performed for us by government, 
and an increasing control exercised by it over private enter¬ 
prise. 

In so far as government performs service for us, it must have 

an organization for that purpose, with competent leadership. 

And if it is not to interfere unduly with freedom 
Organization . ... 

for service of action or personal liberty, the people must have 
and for con- an organization by which to maintain control over 
it. Thus there must be an organization to insure 
efficient service , and there must be an organization to in¬ 
sure democracy, or popular control. If both organizations 

are effective, we have an efficient democracy , toward which we 
have been striving through all our history, but which we have 
not yet completely attained. 

A government may be efficient in performing service for the people with¬ 
out being democratic. In fact, it may be easier to get efficient service 
under an autocratic government. Germany before the war illustrated this. 
But we believe that a government may be both efficient and democratic. 
This depends upon competent leadership and popular control; and both of 
these depend upon education (Chapter XIX). 

In the remaining pages of this book we shall consider both the 
organization of our government for service and that for popular 


HOW WE GOVERN OURSELVES 


379 


control. In this chapter we shall examine some of the methods 
by which we seek to control government, or to be se//-governing. 

The people of a community may govern themselves by direct 
action or indirectly through representatives, just as a group 
of farmers may build their own schoolhouse or Direct self¬ 
church, or employ some one to do it for them, government 
When English colonists settled New England, geographical 
conditions and other reasons led them to form small, compact 
communities, in which it was easy to assemble frequently at 
the meetinghouse to discuss matters of community concern 
and to agree upon rules, or laws, to regulate them. This local 
government by “town meeting” has persisted in many New 
England “towns,” or “townships,” to the present day. 

This direct action of the people in the New England town is 
for the purpose of making the laws only. When it comes to 
the enforcement of these laws, it is necessary to R epresenta _ 
delegate the authority to some one. The town tive self¬ 
meeting could make a law against permitting hogs government 
to run at large, but it chose some one, a “hog reeve,” to see that 
the law was observed. When the community is large it is 
found more convenient to choose representatives also to make 
the laws. Thus each Massachusetts town had its representative 
in the lawmaking assembly of the colony as a whole. This 
representative system of government now prevails in our cities, 
counties, states, and nation. 

Even in the larger communities, however, such as cities, states, 
and the nation itself, the people have sought to retain more 
or less direct control over lawmaking. In the 

Direct self- 

first place, the “fundamental law” of the states government 

and nation found in their constitutions, which through con- 
, . , , , . f stitutions 

determine what the form and powers of govern¬ 
ment shall be, has been adopted by more direct action of the 
people than most other laws (see pp. 419, 444). The preamble 
to the federal Constitution asserts that “We, the people of the 


380 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


United States ... do ordain and establish this Constitution 
for the United States of America.” Neither state nor national 
constitutions can be altered except by special action by the 
people themselves, either by direct vot$ at the polls or by con¬ 
ventions of representatives chosen especially for the purpose. 

It has long been the practice in many communities to submit 
important local questions to popular vote for decision, such as 
the question of issuing bonds for public improve¬ 
making : ments, or of licensing saloons. Within recent 

initiative and years in a number of states the people have gained 
referendum ... . 

direct control over lawmaking in regard to any 
subject whatever, both in local and state affairs, by means of 
the “initiative and referendum.” The “initiative” is the right 
of the voters themselves to “initiate,” or propose, legislation. 
This is done by means of a petition signed by a specified number 
of voters. The legislature may then act upon the proposed 
law; but if it does not do so, the law is submitted to the people 
for their vote at the next election. On the other hand, if the 
legislature passes a law that is objectionable to some of the voters 
a petition signed by a specified number of voters requires the 
law to be referred to the people for their approval or rejection. 
This is the “referendum.” 

Of the 24 states that had adopted the initiative and refer¬ 
endum (to 1927) only four were east of the Mississippi River 
Democracy of (Maine, Maryland, Michigan, and Ohio). 1 The 
the West movement to increase popular control over govern¬ 
ment has always been stronger in the West, as we shall see in 
other connections. 

For the most part, however, our laws are made by our repre¬ 
sentatives, over whom we exercise more or less control. Some 
of the more important means by which this control is exercised 


1 “The Initiative and Referendum,” Bulletin No. 6, submitted to the Constitu¬ 
tional Convention of Massachusetts (1917) by the Commission to Compile Informa¬ 
tion and Data, p. 10. 


HOW WE GOVERN OURSELVES 


38i 


The suffrage 


are described in following chapters; but first of all we exercise 
control by choosing our representatives at frequent intervals. 
Let us inquire to what extent the people have a voice in this 
choice. 

It is not true that all citizens have a voice in choosing their 
representatives, though it is more nearly true to-day than ever 
before. The right to a voice in this choice is called 
the suffrage. It is bestowed only on those citizens 
who possess certain qualifications. The constitution of each 
state fixes the qualifications for those who live within the 
boundaries of the state, the national government having exer¬ 
cised no control over the matter except in two cases. After 
the Civil War, the Fifteenth Amendment to the federal Con¬ 
stitution was adopted, providing that “The right of citizens 
of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by 
the United States, or by any state, on account of race, color, 
or previous condition of servitude”; and recently Congress 
has enacted another amendment to the federal Constitution 
which, now approved by a sufficient number of states, has 
bestowed the suffrage upon all women of the nation who possess 
the other necessary qualifications. 

The founders of our nation were far from democratic as we 
now understand the term. They believed that the government 
should be controlled by the educated and prop- Early distrust 
ertied class, which was small. The lack of con- of the people 
fidence in the people was shown in various ways but among 
others by the restriction of the suffrage. This was true even 
in the New England town meeting, which we are in the habit of 
considering as the most democratic of institutions. For in¬ 
stance, no one could vote in colonial times who did not 
belong to the church. Religious qualifications were soon 
abolished however, and property qualifications have almost 
completely disappeared, though in some states voters must be 
taxpayers. 


382 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 



“Equal Suffrage” 

The Governor of New York and his wife casting their ballots. Note 
the voting booths in the background. 


To-day no citizen may vote in any state who has not 
Qualifications reac ^ed the age of 21. The reason for this is 
for the clear and just, but it excludes from the suffrage 

suffrage about 30 million young citizens. Persons of 

unsound mind are denied the suffrage, and citizens may be 







HOW WE GOVERN OURSELVES 


383 


disqualified by crime. In some states illiterates are denied the 
right to vote. In most states foreigners must have completed 
the process of naturalization, which requires five years, before 
they may vote. All states require residence in the state and 
in their local districts for specified periods prior to voting. But 
with these exceptions, the suffrage is now possessed by 
practically all male citizens who are 21 years of age or over, 
and is rapidly being extended to women on equal terms with 
the men. 

There are instances in our early history where women were 
permitted to vote — in New Jersey, for example, prior to 1807. 
In 1869, Wyoming, while still a territory, extended woman 
full suffrage to women, and has been an equal suffrage 
suffrage state since her admission to the Union in 1890. Woman 
suffrage has rapidly gained ground in recent years, most rapidly 
in the West, and at the present writing (1919) 15 states have 
granted women equal suffrage with men, all but two of these 
states being west of the Mississippi River. The women of 
Alaska also have this right. In many other states they have 
the suffrage at certain elections. Moreover, all of the required 
thirty-six states have ratified the suffrage amendment to the 
federal Constitution. 

Why may an autocratic government perform more efficient service than 
a democratic government ? 

What is a “benevolent despotism”? What is a “paternalistic govern¬ 
ment”? 

Why do we consider an imperfect democracy better than an efficient 
autocracy? 

Do you have direct or representative self-government in your community? 
Explain. 

What voluntary organizations are there in your community (such as 
farmers’ cooperative organizations, business corporations, churches, clubs, 
etc.) that have direct self-government? Representative self-government? 

Does your county or town have representatives in state and national 
governments? What are their names? How long will they be your repre¬ 
sentatives? 


384 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Does your state have the initiative and referendum? If so, explain in 
detail how they are used. Give instances of the use of either. 

Give instances (if any) of the use of the referendum in your community 
to settle a local question. 

From your state constitution ascertain the exact qualifications for the 
suffrage in your state. 

Report on the history of woman suffrage in your state. 

Do you think any of the restrictions now existing on the suffrage in your 
state should be removed ? Why ? 

Do you think any further restrictions should be placed on the suffrage 
in your state ? Why ? 

One of the important principles upon which democratic 
government rests is that the will of the majority should control. 
Majority and It is the only arrangement that can be made with 
minority rule justice. It often happens, however, that a minority, 
and sometimes a very small minority, gains control. It also 
sometimes happens that the party in power in government, 
whether it is a majority or a minority, governs without full 
consideration for the interests of other parties or of the com¬ 
munity as a whole. We shall try to get some idea of how this 
happens, and also of methods proposed to prevent it; for as 
long as it happens we cannot lay claim to a full measure of 
democracy in our government. 

If the pupils of your class or school are voting on the kind of entertain¬ 
ment to be given, and a difference of opinion arises, can you think of a fairer 
way to decide than by a vote of the majority? How else might the matter 
be decided ? 

If the majority decides the question, should the minority yield gracefully 
to the decision? Why? 

After the majority plan has been adopted, have the minority any rights 
in the matter? 

Is the majority always right in its decisions? Give illustrations to prove 
your answer. 

If your community takes a vote on the question of road improvement, 
or of school consolidation, is it right that the majority should decide? 

If the majority rules in such a case, is it right that the citizens of the 
minority party should be taxed for the improvement as well as those of the 
majority? Why? 


HOW WE GOVERN OURSELVES 


3»S 


If your class president is elected by a majority of the class, or a county 
supervisor by a majority of the voters of the county, to what extent is it 
the duty of this officer to consider the interests of the minority which voted 
against him? 

Our government is a government by political parties. That 
is, political parties control the government. Voters acting 
independently of one another cannot exercise much Political 
influence. There must be team work in political P arti es 
matters as in everything else. A political party consists of 
those voters who think alike and act together on questions 
of government policy, or in electing their representatives in 
government. It is a voluntary organization, entirely outside 
of the government and not recognized in our constitutions, but 
exercising very great influence upon government. 

In his Farewell Address to the people, Washington said: 

The spirit [of party] unfortunately is inseparable from our nature, having 
its root in the strongest passions of the human mind. It exists under dif¬ 
ferent shapes in all governments, more or less stifled, controlled, or repressed; 
but in those of the popular form it is seen in its greatest rankness, and is 
truly their worst enemy. The alternate domination of one faction over 
another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge natural to party dissensions . . . 
is a frightful despotism. . . . The common and continual mischiefs of the 
spirit of party are sufficient to make it the interest and duty of a wise people 
to discourage and restrain it. 

As long as people differ on questions of public policy there are 
bound to be political parties, as Washington knew, and they 
have always played an important part in our govern- Mischiefs 
ment. But necessary and useful as parties have of the party 
been, the events of our history have shown that spint 
Washington’s warning was exceedingly wise, the “party spirit” 
having often proved the “worst enemy” of our democratic gov¬ 
ernment. 

When some great question is before the country, like that of 
the adoption of the Constitution, or that of slavery, the people 


386 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


are usually divided into two great parties. The party that 
marshals the greater number of votes constitutes a majority 
Value of and § a ^ ns control of the government. The de- 
minority feated minority usually accepts its defeat in a 
opposition sportsmanlike manner and loyally supports the gov¬ 
ernment. Nevertheless it does not cease its opposition to the 
principles of the party in power. One of the chief values of the 
party system is that it keeps important questions in constant 
discussion. The opposition of the minority serves as a check 
upon the acts of the party in power, which is anxious to 
avoid arousing too much opposition. This is one means 
of control over the government enjoyed by the minority 
party. A defeated minority at one election may become 
a victorious majority at the next. The fact that a party 
is in the minority does not necessarily mean that it is in the 
wrong. 

Minorities, however, sometimes win elections. If more than 
two parties are contesting the election, which often happens, 
„ . . that one wins which has the greatest number of 

ties may gain votes, though this number may be less than the 
combined votes of the opposing parties. No other 
arrangement seems possible. President Wilson won his first 
election by a minority vote, the opposition being divided be¬ 
tween Taft and Roosevelt. 

A minority may win through better team work. There are 
always some voters who, through indifference or other causes, 
do not cast their vote. This is especially likely to happen in 
local elections, in which there is almost never as large a vote 
cast as in the same district at a general election. It is one of the 
chief objects of a party organization to keep its members in¬ 
formed and interested and to see that they cast their votes. 
The party that is best organized for these purposes is very likely 
to win over its opponents even though the latter are more 
numerous. 


HOW WE GOVERN OURSELVES 


387 


The organization of the national political parties is very 
thorough. Each party has a managing committee in every 
local district, the local organizations are united in a organization 
state organization, and the several state organiza- of parties and 
tions in a national organization. The shrewdest lts contro1 
men the party affords are made chairmen of committees and 
chosen for other positions of leadership. Such organization 
is necessary and proper; it is only common-sense team work. 
But unfortunately it has frequently fallen into the hands of 
designing men who have used it to promote private interests 
rather than those of the public. A political “boss,” who is at 
the head of an inner “ring” of politicians, often decides who 
shall be nominated for the various offices of government, leav¬ 
ing no choice to the voters themselves. This makes of our 
government a real autocracy, and the worst kind of autocracy, 
because the autocrat (the “boss”) acts in secret, and is in no 
way responsible to the people. It is the “frightful despotism” 
of which Washington warned his countrymen (p. 385). 

Political “bosses” are often allied with powerful business 
interests which seek legislation and governmental administra¬ 
tion favorable to themselves. This has given rise causes of 
to the charge sometimes made that our govern- social unrest 
ment is a “plutocracy,” a government of the people by a small 
wealthy class. It is the feeling that this is so that has caused 
much of the social unrest at the present time, and that explains in 
part the growth of the socialists, and of other groups that would 
go much further than the socialists in their proposed changes, 
such as the I. W. W. (Independent Workers of the World) in our 
country, the Bolshevists in Russia, and anarchists everywhere. 

Unquestionably selfish groups representing great wealth 
have often exerted undue influence in govern- Government 
mental affairs without regard for the public wel- in the interest 
fare. We have seen how the public lands and the of aU classes 
nation’s natural resources have in some cases fallen into the 


388 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


hands of wealthy individuals and corporations to the injury of the 
nation and of those who want to use them for productive pur¬ 
poses (see p. 203). On the other hand, it is natural that 
men who have been successful in managing their private business 
affairs should also be influential in managing public affairs with¬ 
out necessarily having unworthy motives. Nevertheless, when 
government falls under the control of any particular class or 
group, whether it represents wealth, or labor, or any other 
interest, if it has not due regard for all classes, and if it denies 
to the members of other groups the voice in government to 
which they are entitled, it establishes a despotism and over¬ 
throws democracy. 

Why do the people submit to “boss rule”? In the first 
place, they do not always submit to it. Occasionally, when 
Wh the the *'‘bosses” go to unusual extremes, the people 

people sub- give way to “fits of public rage,” to use the words 

rule*” b ° SS f° rmer Senator Elihu Root, “in which the 
people rouse up and tear down the political leader, 
first of one party and then of the other party.” It is thus 
possible for the people to escape the despotism of “boss rule.” 
But two things seem to be necessary to bring it about: first, 
the people must be sufficiently interested in the management 
of their public affairs; and, second, they require leadership. It 
takes close attention to public affairs to enable a citizen to make 
wise decisions for himself; and the average citizen looks around 
for guidance. The absence of responsible leadership gives the 
irresponsible “boss” his chance. 

One difficulty encountered by the citizen who wishes to vote 
intelligently is the large number of persons to be chosen. There 
The short have been cases where the names of several hundred 
baUot candidates appeared on the same ticket. In a small 

community a voter may know personally all the candidates, 
but in larger communities this is not so. It was once thought 
that to make as many of the government offices as possible 


HOW WE GOVERN OURSELVES 


389 


elective was a step in the direction of democracy, and that it 
gave the people direct control over them. But it has not 
worked out this way. It is impossible for the average voter 
to choose wisely among so many candidates, and he therefore 
falls an easy prey to “boss rule.” The short ballot is now quite 
generally advocated to meet this situation. By this plan the 
number of officers to be elected is reduced, and includes only 
those who are responsible for determining the policies of govern¬ 
ment, such as members of legislatures and the chief executive 
officers. These few important officers and representatives are 
then made responsible for the appointment of all other subordi¬ 
nate officers whose business is to carry policies into effect. This 
really gives the people better control over their government by 
fixing responsibility in a few places, and is therefore no less 
democratic than the older plan. (See p. 408.) 

Do you have a long ballot or a short ballot in your county or town? 
In your state? 

How many offices in your county government are elective ? How many 
of the men holding these offices do you know? Consult your parents as 
to the number of these officers they know personally. How many does your 
teacher know ? 

At the next election get a copy of the ballot used in your community 
and ascertain the number of candidates for all offices, including local, state, 
and national. 

What national political parties exist at present ? 

Are the voters of your local community divided into parties on local 
questions? If so, what are some of these questions? 

Investigate the organization in your county (or town) of the political 
party of which your father is a member. Who is chairman of its local 
committee? 

Investigate the work that a party organization does in your community 
during an election campaign; on election day; in the time between elec¬ 
tions. 

Why is secret control over government dangerous? 

What is meant by “social unrest” (p. 387)? 

Are all men of your acquaintance equally capable of directing the affairs 
of government in office? Why? 


39° 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


What is meant by “responsible” and “irresponsible” leadership (p.388)? 

What does it mean to say that a leader must be “responsive as well as 
responsible” to the people? 

Various schemes have been adopted to insure to every voter 
a free expression of his choice for representatives, and to the 
The secret majority their right to govern. One of these is 
ballot the secret ballot. At the polls each voter enters a 

booth by himself to mark his ballot, or to operate the voting 
machine, and need have no fear that a possible “ watcher ” 
may cause him to lose his job or otherwise suffer for voting 
as he thinks best. The secret ballot also reduces the likelihood 
that votes will be bought, for there is no way of telling whether 
the man who sells his vote will vote as he has agreed; and the 
man who sells his vote is not to be trusted. The only voters 
who are embarrassed by the secret ballot are those who cannot 
read their ballots. These have to seek help, and are thus open 
to influence by agents of the “boss.” 

Another device to insure to the voter a voice in his govern¬ 
ment is the direct primary for the nomination of candidates for 
The direct office. By the older method candidates were 
primary nominated by party conventions; but under 

“boss rule” they were in reality determined upon in advance 
by the “boss,” the nomination by the convention being largely 
a matter of form, the delegates voting according to instruc¬ 
tions. The ordinary voter had nothing to say about it. Under 
the direct primary plan any voter possessing the necessary 
qualifications for holding office may become a candidate by 
merely securing the signatures of a specified number of voters 
to a petition. Then a primary election is held at which the 
voters of each party go to the polls to express their choice for 
one among the several candidates who have been announced 
for each office to be filled. The candidates receiving the highest 
number of votes become the nominees of their party. The 
direct primary is now used quite widely throughout the United 


HOW WE GOVERN OURSELVES 


391 


States and is believed to be a great improvement over the old 
method, though it does not always work as well as was expected 
of it. The truth is that any organization is open to abuse by 
clever people who wish to abuse it, and no political organization 
will work effectively unless the voters are intelligent and eternally 
vigilant. 

The President and Vice-President of the United States are 
still nominated by national party conventions. But in some 
states there are presidential preferential primaries. Preferential 
These are direct primaries at which the voters ex- primaries 
press their preference for the presidential candidates. This is 
intended to be a guide to the nominating convention, but there 
is nothing to compel the convention to follow the guidance. 

Democratic government demands certain rights for minorities. 
We have seen how a minority party may exercise a wholesome 
check upon the party in power by constant The rights of 
opposition. We never have a Congress or a state minorities 
legislature in which the members are all of one party. This is 
a good thing, for it results in discussion and debate in the legis¬ 
lative body by which the people are kept informed. 

The initiative and referendum (p. 380) are also weapons 
in the hands of a minority; for, as we have seen, a small number 
of voters may compel the legislature to consider, or reconsider, 
any piece of legislation, or to submit it to the people for their 
decision. Minority parties may thus keep prominently before 
the people measures that have been adversely acted upon by 
the majority. 

Another device that has been introduced in some states and 
local communities is the recall of officials. By means of this a 
specified number of voters may demand that an _ 
officer of government who is displeasing to them 
be brought before the people for their vote as to whether he 
shall be removed from office or not. A small minority may 
thus call an elected officer to account 


392 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


One plan strongly advocated by some students of govern¬ 
ment to insure to minorities an actual voice in government 
Proportional * s that proportional representation of parties in 
representa- legislative bodies. By this plan each party would 
tion of parties re p resen t e d in proportion to its strength. If 
two parties were of about equal strength they would be repre¬ 
sented equally; if one were twice as strong as another, it would 
have twice the representation. The plan is actually in use in 
very few localities. In Illinois, however, the cumulative-vote 
plan is in use, by which each voter is permitted as many votes 
as there are places to be filled, and to distribute these votes 
among the several candidates or to cast them all for one candi¬ 
date. Thus, if there are three representatives to be elected 
from his district, he may give one vote to each of the three, or 
he may give three votes to one of them. A minority may thus, 
by concentrating all of their votes upon a single candidate, be 
reasonably sure of representation. But it requires good team 
work to get this result. 


Representation in our government is on a territorial, or geographical, basis. 
That is, each representative represents the people in a given territory or 
district. Thus, in many counties the board of supervisors is 
bases oTre composed of representatives from each township, the mem- 
resentation* hers of state legislatures represent districts of the state, mem¬ 
bers of the United States House of Representatives represent 
congressional districts in each state, and United States Senators represent 
states. 

In each district under our present system, however, the representatives 
are elected by a majority, though they are supposed to represent all the people 
when elected. If proportional representation were adopted, it would be 
necessary to increase the number of representatives from each district, in 
order that each party should have at least one. Then we should have 
representation by parties, as well as by districts. 

We now hear a good deal about soviet government in Russia. The 
“ soviet ” is a representative body with a different basis of representation 
than either of the above. Soviet government is government by “ workers ” 
and each representative represents a trade or occupation. It is as if, in our 
country, all the farmers in a county, as a group, should elect their repre- 


HOW WE GOVERN OURSELVES 


393 


sentatives to the board of county supervisors, all the carpenters their 
representatives, all the merchants theirs, and so on. It would be, as it is 
in Russia, representation by occupational groups, instead of by geographical 
districts as now. It would differ from proportional representation by parties, 
as described above, because each political party is made up of representa¬ 
tives of all occupations. Only in a few cases have political parties in our 
country tended to become identified with occupational interests, as in the 
case of “ labor parties,” and the old “ greenback party,” which was largely 
made up of farmers. 

At election time visit the nearest polling place, observe the procedure 
of voting, and report. Get sample copies of the ballot used. 

Who are the different persons on duty at the polling place, and what are 
their duties? 

Why and how do voters “register” before an election? 

Describe a primary election in your community. 

How do discussion and debate protect the rights of minorities? 

Is the “recall” used in your state? If so, what instances of its exercise 
do you know, and what were the circumstances? 

What advantages and disadvantages can you see in representation by 
occupational groups as compared with representation by geographical 
districts ? 

READINGS 

In Foerster and Pierson’s AmericanJ. deals: 

Contributions of the west to democracy (F. J. Turner), pp. 72-97. 

A charter of democracy (Theodore Roosevelt), pp. 114-132. 

Can democracy be organized? (E. A. Alderman), pp. 158-174. 

The sovereignty of the people (A. de Tocqueville), pp. 257-260. 

General tendency of the laws (A. de Tocqueville), pp. 261-266. 

The activity of the body politic (A. de Tocqueville), pp. 267-272. 

The German and the American temper (Kuno Francke), pp. 273-281. 

The “Divine Average” (G. Lowes Dickinson), pp. 282-284. 

In Long’s American Patriotic Prose: 

Farewell Address (Washington), pp. 105-123. 

The independent in politics (James Russell Lowell), pp. 241-243. 

Liberty is responsibility, not license (McKinley), pp. 254-255. 

The right of the people to rule (Roosevelt), pp. 272-273. 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series A: Lesson 16, Caste in India. 

Lesson 19, Active citizenship. 

Series C: Lesson 17, Custom as a basis for law. 

Lesson 18, Cooperation through law. 

Hart, A. B., Actual Government, chaps, iv, v. 


394 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Ashley, R. L., The New Civics (Macmillan), chaps, vi, vii. 

Reed, T. H., Form and Functions of American Government, chaps, v-viii (World 
Book Co.). 

Bryce, James, The American Commonwealth, vol. II, Part iii, The party system; and 
Part v, chaps, xcvii-xcix, The faults and strength of democracy. 

Encyclopedia of American Government, under the several topics referred to in this 
chapter. 

Teachable Facts about Bolshevism and Sovietism, Institute for Public Service, 
Si Chambers St., New York City. 


CHAPTER XXV 


OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS 

When the first colonists of America undertook to organize 
governments for their local settlements, they naturally adopted 
forms with which they had been familiar in Eng- units of local 
land. There were two such forms which met their government 
needs, the town , or township , and the county. These have 
remained to this day the chief units of our local government. 

Geographical conditions were such in New England that the 
colonists settled in compact communities. There the township, 
or town, was adopted as the more convenient unit. The New 
It included a central village and the neighboring England 
farming region with irregular boundaries. It is town 
still the unit of local government throughout rural New England, 
and in many communities that have grown to the proportion 
of cities. It has been said of the New England town govern¬ 
ment that it is “the fullest and most perfect example of local 
self-government either then or now in existence. . . . The 
state might fall to pieces, and the town would still supply all 
the wants of every-day government.” 1 

The chief feature of the New England town government is 
the town meeting , which is an assemblage of the voters of the 
town at the town hall (formerly often at the The town 
church), the regular annual town meeting being meeting 
held in the spring or autumn, and special meetings as necessary. 
These meetings are called by the selectmen (see below) by means 
of a warrant which contains a statement of the business to be 
transacted. At the annual meeting reports are heard from the 
officers of the preceding year, officers for the new year are 

1 Henry Cabot Lodge, A Short History of the English Colonies in America, p. 414. 

395 


396 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


elected, by-laws (town laws) are enacted, taxes are levied and 
appropriations made for the various purposes of government. 
It is direct self-government (see p. 379). 

Among the officers elected by the town meeting are the 
selectmen, varying in number from three to nine, who have 
New England charge of the town property and are responsible to 
town officers the town meeting for the conduct of the town’s 
business; a town clerk, who keeps the town records, issues 
marriage licenses, registers births and deaths, and performs 
other clerical services; an assessor of taxes; a treasurer; several 

constables, who have police 
duties, execute warrants 
issued by the selectmen and 
by the justices of the peace, 
and sometimes act as tax 
collectors; school commit¬ 
teemen; overseers of the 
poor; members of the board 
of health and of other 
boards for public service. 
In some of the New Eng- 

Old Town Hall, Marblehead, Mass. l an d states the justices of 

the peace, who are not 
strictly town officers (see p. 438), are elected by the town meeting. 

There is here given a copy of portions of a warrant for a 
special town meeting. This warrant is very brief as compared 
The town with those issued for a regular annual meeting; 

warrant biit it gives an idea of the variety of business 

transacted. 

TOWN WARRANT 

Middlesex , ss. 

To Henry Atchison one of the constables of the Town of Framingham or 
to either of them, Greeting: 

In the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, you are hereby 
required to notify and warn the inhabitants of the Town of Framingham, 








OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS 397 

qualified to vote in elections, and Town affairs, to meet at the Casino in 
said Framingham, on 

Wednesday, July 16th, a . d . 1919 

at eight o’clock p.m. Then and there to act on the following articles, viz.: 
Article 1. To hear and act upon such reports of any of the officers of the 
Town or Committees of the Town as may be then and there presented, ap¬ 
propriate money to carry out the recommendations thereof, or any of them, 
pass any vote or take any action relative to any of said reports, or any part 
thereof. 

Art. 2. To hear and act on the report of the Committee directed to investi¬ 
gate school needs in the Apple Street District. . . . 

Art. 3. To see if the Town will vote to instruct the Town Treasurer to 
place to the credit of the Park Department . . . for the care and mainte¬ 
nance of parks and playgrounds, any and all sums of money which may be 
received by him ... on account of said Department, and authorize the use 
of the same by said Department. . . . 

Art. 4.. To see if the Town will grant or appropriate a sum not exceeding 
twenty-five hundred dollars ($2500) for the purchase by the tree warden 
of a new tree spraying machine. . . . 

Art. 5. To see if the Town will authorize its Board of Park Commissioners 
to sell and dispose of two of the unused schoolhouses placed in charge of the 
Park Commission some years ago. . . . 

Art. 6. To see if the Town will appropriate the sum of fifty-five hundred 
dollars ... to be expended under the direction of the following committee 
... for the purpose of selecting a site, location and erection of a temporary 
memorial tablet, and cause to be inscribed thereon the names of the Fram¬ 
ingham soldiers, sailors, marines . . . and nurses, who gave their lives in 
the late war. . . . 

Art. 8. To see if the Town will vote to install and maintain incandescent 
electric lights on following named streets. . . . 

Art. 9. To see if the Town will vote to raise the pay of its Police Officers 
fifty cents a day. . . . 

Art. 10. To see if the Town will vote to appoint and instruct a committee 
to petition the County Commissioners to relocate Marble Street. . . . 

Art. 12. To see if the Town will vote to appropriate a sum ... to reim¬ 
burse Wellington H. Pratt for expenses incurred in the construction of a 
sewer and laying of water pipes. . . . 

And you are directed to serve this warrant by posting an attested copy 
of the same at each of the Meeting Houses and Post-Offices in said Town, 
eight days at least, including two Sundays, before the time of holding said 
meeting. 


398 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Hereof fail not, and make due return of this warrant, with your doing 
thereon, to the Town Clerk at the time and place of said meeting. 

Given under our hands this first day of July in the year of our Lord one 
thousand nine hundred and nineteen. 

(Signed by the Selectmen) 

It has been said that 


The thing most characteristic of a town meeting is the lively and educat¬ 
ing debate; for attendants on town meeting from year to year become 
skilled in parliamentary law, and effective in sharp, quick ar¬ 
gument on their feet. Children and others than voters are 
allowed to be present as spectators. In every such assembly, 
four or five men ordinarily do half the talking; but any¬ 
body has a right to make suggestions or propose amendments, and occa¬ 
sionally even a non-voter is allowed to make a statement; and the debate 
is often very effective. 1 


The value 
of the town 
meeting 


Another writer says, 

The retiring officers present their reports, which in the larger towns have 
been previously printed and distributed. Any citizen present is free to 
express any criticism or ask any question. No better method of checking 
the conduct of public officers has ever been discovered than this system of 
report in open meeting. Keen questions and sharp comment rip open and 
expose to view the true inwardness of the officers’ behavior. 

At its best, the New England town meeting has never been equaled as 
a mechanism for local government. No mere representative system can 
give the opportunity for real participation in government which a town 
meeting affords. Even the small boys who come to enjoy the fun from the 
gallery are taught that government is a living reality. By grappling first¬ 
hand with their own small local problems, men are trained to take part 
wisely in the bigger affairs of state and nation. 2 

conditions, however, have tended to bring about 
changes in town government. In the early days 
the town meeting was a matter of great interest, 
and everybody attended, including the women and 
children. Many of the towns have now acquired 
large populations, the people are no longer acquainted with 

1 Albert Bushnell Hart, Actual Government, p. 171. 

2 Thomas H. Reed, Form and Functions of American Government, pp. 218, 220. 


Changing 

Weakening of 
government 
by town 
meeting 




OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS 399 

one another, and interest has declined. A few years ago it was 
reported that 

In Brookline, Mass., with about 2500 votes cast, there are from 300 
to 500 at the business sessions. In Hyde Park, Mass., with 2500 voters . . . 
from 500 to 600 attended the annual appropriation meeting. In Leominster, 
Mass., with 1400 voting, the normal attendance is about 800. 

The same writer says that 

In many places the town meeting is being undermined by the caucus, 
held beforehand, to nominate candidates for office. Here a small group 
of persons not only narrow the choice for officers, but often arrange the 
other business to be determined at the town meeting. Sometimes every¬ 
thing is “cut and dried’’ before it comes up for popular discussion; and that 
discussion thus becomes a mere formality. 1 

This illustrates what was said in the preceding chapter 
(p. 388) about the necessity for leadership and the tendency of 
the people, under certain conditions, to accept self- i n fl uences 
appointed leaders, sometimes not of the best, leading to 
outside of the government. Conditions in large decline 
towns are likely to favor this. The questions that have to be 
acted upon are more complicated than formerly, and often 
involve the expenditure of large sums of money. The candi¬ 
dates for office are not known to many of the voters. There 
may be a considerable number of uneducated people in the town, 
and perhaps a foreign population that is unfamiliar with the 
English language and with American methods. These things 
make intelligent self-government by direct methods difficult. 

Various means have been adopted to meet these changing 

conditions. One of these is the creation of a finance committee , 

before which are brought for consideration ques- 

. . 0 _ . The finance 

tions involving the expenditure of money, this committee a 

committee holds hearings, at which citizens may means of 

. 0 . . J , better service 

present arguments for and against proposed meas¬ 
ures. Thus important matters are sifted out by the committee 

1 J. A. Fairlie, Local Government in Counties, Towns and Villages, p. 148. 


400 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


which then reports to the town meeting. The town meeting 
usually votes in accordance with the recommendations of the 
committee. While this arrangement tends to secure careful 
consideration of financial measures, and to result in wise deci¬ 
sions, provided the committee is composed of reliable men, it 
tends, on the other hand, to prevent discussion in open town 
meeting, to make the vote in the latter a mere matter of form, 
and to destroy interest in it. In other words, while it tends to 
better service , it reduces the value of the town meeting as a 
means of education for democracy. 

Another arrangement that has been adopted in a good many 
towns is the town planning board. This is a committee which, 
Town after careful study of existing conditions and tend- 

planning encies of community growth, formulates a definite 

plan for the promotion of the community’s interests during a 
period of years. It considers such matters as the laying out of 
new roads and streets and the improvement of old ones, the 
location of parks, playgrounds, and public buildings, the con¬ 
struction of sewers, water works, and lighting systems, the 
style of architecture for public buildings, the enactment of 
housing laws. While town planning boards usually deal pri¬ 
marily with matters pertaining to the physical development 
of the town, they may also plan with reference to the improve¬ 
ment of the educational system, the promotion of public health, 
and of social needs generally. 

The town planning board is usually composed of trained men, 
such as engineers, architects, and physicians, and it may call in 
expert advisers from other communities or from the state gov¬ 
ernment. The advantage of having such a board is that it 
provides the town with a program of action carefully worked 
out from the point of view both of continuous community needs 
and of economy. It affords expert leadership. 

As has been said many times in these pages, government is 
the community’s official organization to secure cooperation; 


OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS 


401 


but it is effective only to the extent that the people cooperate. 
It is a machine that is valuable as the people use it. The 
weakening of town government, or of any other Need f 
government, is due largely to a lack of interest citizen 
and of actual participation by the people. C0 °P eratl0n 
Many people think they have done their share toward 
good government when they have helped elect their officers 
and have paid their taxes. But when they take this view 
they are likely to lose both interest in their government and 
control over it. 

In many New England towns the decline in popular control 
of town government has been largely counterbalanced by 
community organization for voluntary cooperation, voluntary 
Much community service is, and probably always community 
will be, performed by private enterprise and initi- 0r s amzatl0n 
ative rather than by government (see p. 376); and the ef¬ 
ficiency of government depends to a considerable extent upon 
the efficiency of voluntary enterprise. Government must have 
the cooperation of the latter, and to some extent work through 
it. In practically every community there are groups of people 
organized to cooperate for one purpose or another; but they 
are often self-centered and act independently of one another, 
if not actually at cross purposes. The situation that exists 
in many communities is illustrated by the chart on page 402. 1 

In a good many Massachusetts towns this situation has been 
very largely remedied by means of community organization for 
which the leadership has been provided in many Community 
cases by the Community Organization Department organization 
of the Extension Service of the State Agricultural ia Massa " 

. . ... chusetts 

College. The organization varies m detail m 

different communities to meet local needs, but the main 

features are the following: 

1 This chart and the one on page 403 are taken from Extension Bulletin No. 23, 
Massachusetts Agricultural College, by E. L. Morgan. 


402 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


First: a community council , consisting of representatives of the various 
community interests and organizations including the town officials. This 
council serves at first as a sort of “steering committee” to bring the 
various interests together and to plan the organization and the work 
to be done. 



Organizations self-centered. 

Second: a community meeting, the first one of which is called by the 
community council to consider the questions: Is it possible for a com¬ 
munity to plan for its future development? Do we care to do it? Is it 
worth while? How can it be done? The community meeting becomes a 
sort of unofficial town meeting, and is often more largely attended than the 

1 From “Mobilizing a Rural Community,” byE.L. Morgan, Extension Bulletin 
No. 23, Mass. Agricultural College,, 








OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS 


403 


official town meeting, partly because it is attended by the women of the 
community. 

Third : a number of working committees, appointed as a result of the first 
community meeting. They may include 
A committee on farm production 



What This Community Now Has 1 
A longer term program. 


A committee on conservation 
A committee on boys’ and girls’ interests 
A committee on farm business 

A committee on community life (education, health, recreation, etc.) 
1 Adapted from “Mobilizing a Rural Community.” 














404 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


These committees make a study of the conditions and needs of the com¬ 
munity in their respective fields, and prepare plans and projects, which 
are submitted to the community meeting in due time. 

Fourth: a community program, which has been agreed upon by the com¬ 
munity meeting, is supervised by the community council, and is carried out 
by the various community organizations represented, including the public 
officials. 


The result is an organized community somewhat as suggested 
by the second chart, on page 403. 

This organization is entirely outside of the official govern¬ 
mental organization. It may be asked why it is necessary to 
Official and have a “community meeting” when the official 
unofficial town meeting already exists. The answer is that 

team work th e official town meeting has its work pretty defi¬ 
nitely cut out for it. It meets for a half-day or a day at a time, 
and its time is occupied by the voters in passing laws, electing 
officials, levying taxes, making appropriations, and doing other 
official business. The “ community meeting,” on the other hand, 
is attended by non-voters as well as voters, the women taking an 
active part, and the young people being represented. Many 
matters are discussed that could not properly be taken up in 
town meeting. 

A large part of the program of the community organization is 
carried out by the voluntary agencies of the community. But a 
great many of its proposals must have the approval of the 
official town meeting, require appropriations which can only be 
made by the town meeting, and are finally executed by the 
public officials of the town. The organization naturally stim¬ 
ulates interest in the official government, and brings to its 
support all the organized agencies of the community working 
together. 

The township is found as a unit of local government in many 
states outside of New England, but in most of these cases its 
government is entirely representative in form. While the 


OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS 


405 


town meeting is found in a few of these states , 1 it nowhere 
holds the important place that it does in New England. One 
reason for this is the larger size and more scattered 
population of the township. In the public land government 

states the congressional township (see p. iqO, six outside of 

•1 • 1 - • w 1. * ’ New England 

miles square, is also the political township. At the 

head of the township government in its representative form are 
trustees (sometimes three, sometimes only one) who, with the 
town clerk, the constables, the tax assessor, the treasurer, the 
justices of the peace, and such other officers as may be required, 
are elected by the people. The powers of the township govern¬ 
ment outside of New England vary in different states, but are 
always quite limited, relating most commonly to the mainte¬ 
nance of roads, school administration, and the care of the poor. 
In these circumstances there is at least as great need for com¬ 
munity organization to support and supplement the work of 
government as in the New England towns. 

Investigate and report on the following: 

The services performed by your township government. 

A complete list of your township officers, and the duties of each. (Com¬ 
mittees of pupils may interview some of the more important officers to get 
a description of their daily routine, kinds of service performed, etc. Also 
discuss with parents.) 

Officers of the colonial New England town that do not exist now, and 
their duties. 

What is parliamentary law? (Valuable training may be secured by 
conducting school meetings, club meetings, or occasional regular class exer¬ 
cises, in accordance with parliamentary procedure.) 

Why public discussion is a check upon the conduct of persons holding 
responsible positions. 

The popular interest in public questions in your township. 

If there is a finance committee in your township (p. 399), how does 
it serve the community? Does it hold hearings? (Attend and report upon 
some such hearing.) 

1 As in New York and New Jersey; and farther west in Michigan, Wisconsin, 
Minnesota, the Dakotas, Illinois, and Nebraska. 


406 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Town planning in your community (what has been, or what might be, 
done). 

The value of having a plan. 

Is your community more like that represented by the chart on page 402, 
or by that on page 403 ? 

The extent to which voluntary organizations in your community co¬ 
operate with and through the local government. 

The extent to which your state agricultural college promotes community 
organization. 

The feasibility of organizing your town (or community) by some such plan 
as that outlined on page 402. 

The value of a community “forum” as a means to good government. 

Why the official town meeting should (or should not) be encouraged in 
your state. 

Procure and examine recently published official reports of your township 
government. What do these reports tell you ? What is the value of such 
reports? Are the reports of your township generally read by the people of 
the township? Why? Discuss ways in which your township reports could 
be made more useful. 


The county 


The other unit of local government with which the colonists 
were familiar was the county, which in England embraced a 
number of townships. In the colonies of New 
York and Pennsylvania the county and the town¬ 
ship were developed together as in England; in the southern 
colonies the county was organized without the township. 
To-day the county exists in every state of the Union, including 
the New England states. In Louisiana it is called the parish. 

There are two main types of county, government. According 
to one plan, as in New York, each township elects a represen- 
Types of tative to a county board of supervisors , which is 
county sometimes quite large. According to the other 

government pj ailj as j n Pennsylvania, the people of the county 
as a whole elect a small board of commissioners , the townships 
not being represented as such even when they exist. The 
board of supervisors or commissioners levies taxes and makes 
appropriations for various county purposes, such as constructing 
and maintaining roads, bridges, and county buildings, paying 


OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS 


407 



the salaries of county officers, caring for the county poor, and 
conducting the county schools. It is sometimes spoken , of as 
the county legislative body, but it is rather an administrative 
body, its lawmaking powers being very slight. 

Among the important county officers are the sheriff, who is 
chief guardian of the peace in the county, has charge of the 


Fairfax Court House, Virginia 

The monument in front commemorates the first soldier killed in the Civil War. 

jail, is the chief executive officer of the county court (see 
p. 439), and sometimes acts as tax collector; the county 
county prosecutor (also called the prosecuting officers 
attorney, the district attorney, or the state’s attorney), who 
prosecutes all criminal cases in the county and represents the 
public authorities in civil suits; the county clerk, who keeps 
the county records; the register of deeds, who records all trans¬ 
fers of property; the coroner, who investigates the cause of 
violent and mysterious deaths; the tax assessor; the treasurer; 
the auditor, who examines the accounts of county officers; the 






408 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


surveyor; the school superintendent; the health officer. Some¬ 
times there are others. 

Although practically every citizen of the United States is also 
a citizen of a county, the people have as a rule shown surpris¬ 
ingly little interest in county government. As 
L&ck of ^ 

interest in generally found it affords a striking example of 

county poor service resulting from a lack of team work. 

County government has the reputation of being one 
of the weakest spots in our whole system of government. 

We seem to have got into the habit of not expecting much 
service from the county government. Where the township 
Will county government is strong, as in New England, it 

government takes the place of county government. Where 

survive? people live in cities, they look to the city govern¬ 

ment to serve them rather than to the county government. In 
rural districts the people have come more and more to look to 
the state and national governments for such service as they 
expect government to give. These facts might suggest the 
question whether or not we really need county government. 

One recent writer says, 

There are some parts of the country where I can see that the county 
will pass out of existence entirely in a very short time, unless it does adjust 
itself to the new conditions. 1 

The same writer says, 

Unless the county does measure up in this way, the powers of government 
and the services which it renders will have to drift away from local control 
and be placed in the hands of some government more fit and which will 
probably be further away from home. 

Students of county government attribute many of its defects 
Effects of the to the “long ballot” (see p. 388). In one county 
long ballot [ n North Carolina, at a recent election, there were 
twenty-five different candidates for county offices on each 

1 H. S. Gilbertson, in the University of North Carolina Record, No. 159, October, 
1918, p. 37. 



OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS 409 

of three party tickets, making seventy-five candidates among 
whom each voter had to choose. Township and state officers 
were also elected at the same election, bringing the number of 
persons to be voted for up to about fifty out of 150 candidates. 


Court House, Detroit, Mich. 

It is apparent that the average voter would have difficulty in 
voting intelligently. 

The long ballot has other results than the mere difficulty of 
intelligent voting. One of these is a government G overnment 
without a head. While the board of supervisors or without a 
commissioners is nominally at the head of the county head 
government, it has to work through the various administrative 














4io 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


officers. These are also elected by the people, and may be of 
the opposite political party. At all events, they are inde¬ 
pendent of the board, not responsible to it, and may or may 
not work in harmony with it. A former member of a county 
board in North Carolina says, 

Most persons are under the impression that the board of commissioners, 
with its chairman, is at the head of the county government. . . . The 
board does have authority to say how about 19 cents of the entire tax levy 
may be spent, but its authority over the balance of the levy, over any 
county official, such as the sheriff, clerk of the court, coroner, constable, 
county judge, or recorder, is nil. The chairman of the board does have the 
honor ... of smiling and trying to look pleasant when complaints are made 
about bad roads, excessive tax assessments, or the delinquency of some 
county subordinate, over whom neither he nor the board has any control. 1 


Another result of the long ballot is the opportunity it gives 
the political “boss” to control the selection of officers (see p. 

^87). It is not uncommon to hear rural citizens 

The oppor- 0 . 

tunity of the ask such questions as, “What’s the use of farmers 
taking off time for politics when the whole thing is 
run by political bosses anyway?” 2 “In such counties office¬ 
seeking has become not the means to the end of performing 
service, but exists for the immediate reward, and whatever 
service is rendered to the people is incidental to that other 
object. ” 3 . 

Along with these defects, and largely because of them, b^d 
business methods have characterized county government/ re- 
Bad business suiting in poor service and wastefulness of the 
methods people’s money. A faulty system of keeping 
accounts is as unbusinesslike and disastrous in public business 
as in private business. 


1 M. S. Willard, North Carolina Club Year Book, 1918, p. 87. 

2 Graham Taylor, in Rural Manhood, October, 1914, p. 328. 

3 H. S. Gilbertson, Forms of County Government, in the University of North 
Carolina Record, No. 159, October, 1918, p. 37. 


OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS 


411 

When I was first connected with the government of my own county, I 
became very much interested to know whether we were doing better or 
worse in the management of our road finances; in the cost of maintaining 
our county prisoners; in the maintenance of our county home and numer¬ 
ous other county institutions, than were other counties. I was anxious to 
find out what was being done in other counties in the way of appropriations 
for hospitals and I selected twelve or fifteen counties and wrote letters to 
the county officials asking for information. In answer to probably two of 
my letters I received intelligent and satisfactory replies. Probably half 
a dozen more gave me some figures which were of very little use for purposes 
of comparison, and to my other letters I received no replies, although the 
first request was followed up by a second and a third letter. I then began 
an effort to secure copies of the newspapers in which had been printed the 
financial statements of the counties. I succeeded in securing probably ten 
statements and, after a fruitless attempt to coordinate these statements so 
that I might secure information which would enable me to know whether 
we were doing better or worse than our neighbors, I became hopelessly 
lost in a jungle of statistics and reluctantly gave it up as useless, and turned 
my attention to doing what I could to place our own county affairs in such 
condition that they could be understood by those of our taxpayers who might 
be inquisitive enough to want to know how the money was handled which 
they paid for taxes. 1 

The practice of compensating county officers from fees re¬ 
ceived for special services and of allowing them to The fee 
retain the interest on public money is one illus- system 
tration of extravagant business methods. 

For many of the services performed by county officers fees are charged, 
on the principle that the person served should pay for the service. It did 
not occur to the people to inquire how much their officers were getting in 
this way. In one county, in which there was a large city, investigation 
showed that the sheriff had a net income from fees and commissions of $15,- 
000, the county treasurer $23,000, and the county auditor over $50,000. 

From the point of view of economy and efficiency it is better to pay all 
officers an adequate salary and to require that all fees, commissions, and 
interest on public money be returned to the county treasury. It keeps the 
tax rate down and makes possible an increase of service. 

1 M. S. Willard, County Finances in North Carolina, in the University of North 
Carolina Record, No. 159, October, 1918, p. 80. 


412 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


The county office fees and commissions in North Carolina amount to 
something like one and a quarter million dollars a year, if they are collected 
according to law. The total is large enough to pay all salaries in at least 
58 counties of the state, and leave large balances to apply to schools, roads, 
jail expenses, interest, and sinking funds. These large surpluses are being 
wasted in most of the salary counties. 1 

Such faulty business methods are gradually being corrected 
by the introduction of the short ballot, as in California and 
elsewhere, by businesslike methods of keeping accounts, by the 
appointment of county and state auditors, and by giving full 
publicity to reports of county business. 

“But after all,” says the county official quoted above, “a 
great part of the shortcomings of county officials and a great 
The fault deal l° oseness which prevails in the man- 

with the agement of county affairs can be charged to the 

people themselves.” Another student of the sit¬ 
uation says, 

Among the country people themselves there is no demand for better 
local government or almost none; they are satisfied or content themselves 
with grumbling about taxes and in fierce partisan politics. . . . The country 
people of America lack an adequate sense of civic and social responsibility, 
and the deficiency is rising into critical, national importance. 2 

Another says, 

The first thing to be reformed in county government is not the officers 
down at the courthouse, but our own attitude toward the county, and par¬ 
ticularly toward public office. For, after all, public officers in this country 
are just what the people make them . . . 3 

There are those who advocate breaking up the county into 
smaller units for purposes of local self-government, as in New 

1 E. C. Branson, The Fee System in North Carolina, in the University of North 
Carolina Record, No. 159, October, 1918, p. 69. 

2 E. C. Branson, Report of sub-committee on local government, National Country 
Life Conference, Baltimore Proceedings, 1919, pp. 68, 69. 

3 H. S. Gilbertson, Forms of County Government, in the University of North 
Carolina Record, No. 159, October, 1918, p. 38. 


OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS 


413 


England. Thomas Jefferson, living in Virginia where the county 
was the sole unit of local government, was a great admirer of 
the New England town meeting, and said that 
“public education and the subdivision of the the local 
counties into wards,” or townships, were the “two community to 
hooks” upon which republican government must * e county 
hang. On the other hand, we have observed an opposite 
tendency to concentrate the administration of schools, roads, 
health, and other matters, in the county government (see pp. 
294, 325). The fact is that both the organization for centralized, 
county-wide government, and that for the government of local 
communities within the county, have their uses. Neither can 
do its best work without the other. The problem is to deter¬ 
mine what the business of each should be and to establish a 
proper balance between them. One thing is sure, namely, 
that the government of the county cannot be effective unless 
the people of the various communities within the county are 
organized to cooperate both for their local interests and for the 
interests of the county as a whole. This may be provided for 
in part through township governments, where they exist, and in 
part through such unofficial organization as that described for 
the New England town (p. 402), or as that furnished by the 
farm bureau with its local community committees (p. 30). 

One of the most progressive states in the matter of county government 
is North Carolina. One of the chief instruments by which this progress 
has been made is the North Carolina Club, organized by the University of 
North Carolina for the study and promotion of the interests of the state. 
The North Carolina Club has affiliated with it county clubs, each of which 
studies its own county and promotes its interests. In North Carolina they 
are working in both directions suggested above: in the direction of an effec¬ 
tive central county government, and in the direction of organization of all 
local communities for the study of needs and for team work in providing for 
them. See references. 

Another important factor in county government is the control 
exercised over it by the state. The county is not only a local 


414 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


self-governing unit, but it is also a division of the state for the 
administration of state laws. Its powers of self-government 
The co t are &* ven to ^ ky the state, and along with these 

as a sub- powers it has imposed upon it certain duties for the 

division of state. First of all, the county is a state judicial 
district. The most important building at the 
county seat is the courthouse. The county court is one of the 
state courts described in the next chapter. The county judge 
is sometimes chosen by the people of the county, but he is really 
a state officer. In New England the county is almost solely a 
judicial district, and in all states its judicial purposes are of 
supreme importance. 

But more than this, the county schools are a part of the state 
school system and must be administered in accordance with 
state laws, though by county and township officers. County 
officers must enforce the health laws of the state. County 
authorities not only levy and collect county taxes, but: also 
collect state taxes from residents of the county. 

Here again we have an illustration of the necessity for a care¬ 
ful balance between matters properly subject to local ’ self- 
The necessity g overnment and those properly subject to state 
control. Counties have suffered both from too 
much state control in some respects, and from too 
little in others. 


for state 
control 


The whole state is injured ... if one township lets its citizenship 
deteriorate through ignorance or drunkenness, and so the state has a right 
to say that at least six months school term must be given in every towhship 
and that no whiskey-selling shall be permitted. Or if one township is in¬ 
fested with cattle ticks, other townships are injured, and so the state may 
set a minimum standard here . . . 


It often happens that the citizens of one county pay more than 
their share of the state taxes because it has better methods of 
assessing and collecting taxes and of keeping accounts than other 
counties in the state. One of the greatest needs of counties, and 


OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS 


415 


one least provided for, is uniformity among the counties of a 
state in methods of keeping accounts (see example on page 
410). Some states have established state systems of auditing 
county finances. 

On the other hand, state governments often interfere in 
matters that might better be left to local determination. Usu¬ 
ally all the counties of a state have exactly the < £Home 
same form of government, with exactly the same rule ” for 
officers who exercise exactly the same duties. Yet counties 
some counties within a state are almost wholly rural, some are 
almost wholly urban, others are mixed in character. A form 
of government adapted to one may not be suited to another. 
So there has arisen a demand for a larger degree of “home 
rule” in counties. In Illinois, counties have had the right to 
determine for themselves whether the township should or 
should not be given prominence in local government, and 
whether the “supervisor” or the “commissioner” plan of 
government should be used. California now has a law which 
provides that counties may apply for “charters” in the same 
way that cities do in all states. The “charter,” like a con¬ 
stitution, determines the form and powers of the government, 
and is framed by the people of the county themselves, though 
it must then have the approval of the state legislature. 

We have noted how the growth of cities with their elaborate 
organization for service tends to divert attention from the less 
conspicuous 1 county government. While probably The growth of 
half the counties of the United States contain no urban com- 
city, or “town,” or village of 2500 people, there is mumties 
in almost every township at least one compact settlement that 
has grown up around the trading center. Sometimes there are 
several of them in a township and many in a county. In such 
compact communities cooperation becomes necessary to provide 
for needs that are not felt in more rural districts, such as paved 
streets, sewers, public water supply, fire and police protection, 


416 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


and so on. A separate government becomes necessary. The 
people of such communities may appeal to the authorities 
of township, county, or state, for incorporation as a village, 
borough, town, or city. “Village” and “borough” are simply 
two names used in different localities for the same thing. The 
difference between them and an incorporated town or city 
is principally one of size and corresponding complexity of 
organization. 

The chief governing body of a village, or borough, or incor¬ 
porated town, is a small council, or board, elected by the people. 
Government ^ has legislative powers in a small way, enacting 

of villages and ordinances for the regulation of local officers and in 
incorporated ^ pubHc interest . 

In Michigan . . . they may prescribe the terms and conditions for licens¬ 
ing taverns, peddlers, and public vehicles. They have control of streets, 
bridges and public grounds; and have authority to construct bridges and 
pavements, and to regulate the use and prevent the obstruction of the high¬ 
ways. They may establish and maintain sewers and drains. They may 
construct and control public wharves, and regulate and license ferries. They 
may establish and regulate markets. They may provide a police force and 
a fire department. They may construct or purchase and operate water 
works and lighting plants. They may own cemeteries, public pounds, public 
buildings and parks. 1 

The council also has limited power to levy taxes and to borrow 
money for public purposes. 

There is a chief executive officer, sometimes called mayor, 
sometimes president, or by other names. Subordinate to him 
are various other officers, such as the police marshal, the street 
commissioner, fire marshal, tax assessor, treasurer, clerk, and 
so on. In larger villages boards of health and other boards 
and commissions exist to administer various forms of public 
service. The village may also have its minor court presided 
over by a justice of the peace. 

When villages or towns reach a certain population usually 
1 John A. Fairlie, Local Government in Counties, Towns, and Villages, pp. 207, 208. 


OUR LOCAL GOVERNMENTS 


417 


fixed by state law, they may be incorporated as cities. The 
change that takes place is simply one of elaborating the gov¬ 
erning machinery and giving to it larger powers to correspond 
with the larger needs of city life. The complex city govern- 
problems of city government we shall not attempt ment 
to study in this book. 

Great improvement in the government of towns and cities 
has been made in recent years. The latest plan of government 
to be adopted, and it has spread to a considerable Changes in 
number of towns and cities in the United States, urban govern- 
is the city manager , or town manager , form of gov- service 

ernment. By this plan the voters elect a small and better 
council, or board of directors, who in turn appoint contro1 
a manager who serves as a superintendent over the affairs of 
the city or town. He is a trained specialist, often an engineer, 
and cities and towns sometimes search the country over for the 
best man available for the place. The manager appoints the 
heads of the various departments of government, such as health, 
police, public works, etc., and is responsible to the council for 
their work. It is the application to town government of methods 
long used by successful business corporations. 

Investigate and report upon: 

How the county in Louisiana came to be called a “parish.” 

Organization and powers of your county board. 

A list of your county officers and their duties. 

The sentiment in your county with regard to the efficiency of your county 
government. Is the sentiment justified ? 

Recognized defects in your county government. 

The long (or short) ballot in your county. 

Extent to which the people of your county study the reports of your 
county government (consult at home and with older friends). 

What do you find of interest in your county reports? 

Are reports of [your county published in the newspapers? Do you 
understand them? Ask your father to explain them to you. 

Extent to which your county board exercises control over other county 
officers. 


418 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Extent to which the farmers of your county interest themselves in politics. 

Whether or not the experience of the officer quoted on page 410 could 
be duplicated in vour state. 

The fee system in your county. 

How and why public officers “are just what the people make them.” 

The meaning of Jefferson’s remark that “public education and the sub¬ 
division of counties into wards are the two hooks upon which republican 
government must hang” (p. 412). 

The feasibility of a “county club” in your county similar to those in 
North Carolina (p. 413). 

The balance between county government and township government in 
your county. 

State control of your county government — too much, or too little ? 
Explain. 

Difference between a charter and a constitution. 

Number of incorporated towns and cities in your county. 

Cooperation (or friction) between urban and rural districts in your 
county. 

Organization of village, borough, or town government in your county. 

Difference between the “town” as referred to in the last part of this 
chapter and the “town” as described in the first part. 

Services in incorporated towns and villages in your county that are not 
performed by the county or township governments for rural residents. 

How a village or town is incorporated in your state. 

Town manager form of government in your state. Its advantages. 


READINGS 

State Constitution. 

County Government and County Affairs in North Carolina, North Carolina Club 
Year Book 1917-1918 (The University of North Carolina Record, Extension 
Series No. 30, Chapel Hill, N. C.). 

County Government, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social 
Science, vol. XLVII, May, 1913. (36th and Woodland Ave., Philadelphia.) 

Publications of the New York Short Ballot Association, 381 Fourth Ave., New 
York City. 

Fairlie, J. A., Local Governmentin Counties, Towns, and Villages (The Century Co.). 
Mobilizing the Rural Community, by E. L. Morgan, Extension Bulletin No. 23, 
Massachusetts Agricultural College, Amherst, Mass. 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series B: Lesson 19, The commission form of government and the city manager. 
Hart, A. B., Actual Government, Part iv, Local government in action. 

Reed, T. H., Form and Functions of American Government, Part iv, Local government 


CHAPTER XXVI 


OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 

When the thirteen original states were colonies, they derived 
their governing powers from charters granted to them by the 
king, as cities and some counties are granted char- Source of 
ters by the state. When they won their inde- governing 
pendence the people of each state substituted a power 
constitution for the charter; the difference between a charter 
and a constitution being that the former is given to the people 
by some higher authority, while the latter is adopted by the 
people themselves. All of our states alike, whether created 
before or after the Union was formed, are self-governing under 
constitutions of their own making. 

Counties and towns, cities and villages, have no powers of 
self-government except those granted to them by the state. The 
national government, also, may exercise only such powers as 
are given to it by the people voting as states. Each state, on the 
other hand, is self-governing in its own right, and may exercise 
through its government any power whatever, excepting only 
those which it voluntarily surrendered upon entering the Union. 
(See pp. 94, 449; also Constitution, Art. I, sec. 10, and 
Art. IV.) 

The state constitution is the supreme law of the state and is 
supposed to represent the direct voice of the people. Since 
the Union was formed, state constitutions have The state 
been framed by conventions of delegates elected constitution 
especially for the purpose, and in most cases have been sub¬ 
mitted to the people for their ratification. Amendments may 
be proposed either by such conventions or by the state legis¬ 
latures, but they must also be ratified by the people. Some 

419 


420 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


of the states have completely revised their constitutions several 
times, and amendments have been very numerous. 

State constitutions are long documents, containing a great 
deal of detail regarding the organization and powers of govern¬ 
ment. In this respect they differ from the national 
length of Constitution, which is brief and speaks in broad, 

state con- general terms. Recent constitutions are longer 
stitutions , .. . . . 

than earlier ones, partly because there is a greater 

variety of problems to be dealt with, but also because of a 
growing tendency to limit the powers of legislatures and admin¬ 
istrative officers. 

After a declaration of rights , which all state constitutions 
contain, the constitution is concerned chiefly with the organi- 
A republican za tion, powers and duties of the government. Each 
form of state may organize its government as it sees fit, 

government provided only that ft i s “ republican ” in form as 

required by the federal Constitution (Art. IV, sec. 4). This 
means that it must be a form of representative self-government. 

While the state governments differ from one another in 
matters of detail, the general plan is the same in all. Each 
Separation consists of three branches: the legislative branch 
of powers f or lawmaking; the executive branch for law 
enforcement and administration; and the judicial branch for 
the interpretation of the laws and for the administration of 
justice in accordance with the law. These three branches are 
organized on the principle of a separation of powers , to prevent 
encroachment by one upon the powers of the others, and to 
make each a check upon the powers of the others (see p. 449). 


In the government of this commonwealth, the legislative department 
shall never exercise the executive and judicial powers, or either of them; 
the executive shall never exercise the legislative and judicial powers, or 
either of them; the judicial shall never exercise the legislative and executive 
powers, or either of them; to the end it may be a government of laws, and 
not of men. 1 

1 Constitution of Massachusetts, Part I, Art. XXX. 


OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 


421 


Investigate and report on: 

The meaning of “a government of laws, and not of men.” 

The entrance of your state into the Union. 

The history of your present state constitution. 

The powers surrendered by your state when it entered the Union. 

Compare the length of your state constitution with that of the federal 
Constitution. 

The principal parts of which your constitution is composed. 

Number of amendments to your state constitution. When the latest 
amendments were adopted and why. 

The declaration of rights in your state constitution. 

Checks exercised by the legislature upon the executive and judicial 
branches; by the executive upon the legislative and judicial branches; by 
the judicial upon the legislative and executive branches. 

The chief executive officer of the state is the governor, who is 
elected by the people for a term which varies, in the different 
states, from one to four years. It is his duty to see ^ 
that the laws of the state are faithfully executed. 

The constitution makes him the commander-in-chief of the 
state militia, which he may call upon to enforce the laws or to 
quell disorders. It also gives him the power to pardon persons 
convicted of crime, in the exercise of which power he is some¬ 
times assisted by a special board of pardons and sometimes by 
the legislature; but the consideration of the pleas of such persons 
and their friends for pardon often consumes much of his time. 

A great deal of the governor’s time is also taken up with 
duties devolving upon him as the official representative of the 
state on ceremonial occasions, as in the laying of The 
corner-stones of public buildings, attending state governor’s 
fairs, and making speeches at public meetings of vaned duties 
all kinds. By virtue of his office he is also a member of many 
boards and commissions whose meetings he must attend. 

The governor also has some part in lawmaking. In all 
states except North Carolina he has the power to veto bills 
passed by the legislature. This check upon the legislature is 
not absolute, for the legislature may overcome the governor’s 


422 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


veto by again passing the bill, usually by a two-thirds vote. 
The governor may also influence legislation by means of his 
The gov- messages to the legislature in which he recommends 
emor’s part in measures which he believes should be enacted into 
lawmaking i aw> j n case Q £ 0 pp 0S iti 0 n by the legislature, the 
governor often carries his proposals directly to the people, who 
quickly make known whether or not they support him. The 



State Capitol of Minnesota at St. Paul 


governor may call special sessions of the legislature to consider 
measures of especial importance. 

The governor is a more influential officer to-day than he was 
in the early part of our history. In colonial times he was the 
Growing in- direct representative of the king, or of the colonial 
fluence of the proprietor, and the people sought in every way to 
governor limit his powers. After the colonies became states 
this habitual fear of the governor continued, and he was placed 
under the control of the legislature. As time went on, however, 
the legislature fell under the suspicion of the people, while the 











OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 


423 


governor was more and more looked to as their leader. Thus, 
for example, the veto power was given to him, increasing his 
influence while it curbed that of the legislature. 

But the power and influence of the governor are by no means 
as great in relation to state government as are the powers of the 
President in relation to the national government, -weakness 0 f 
In fact, the executive branch of our state govern- the state 
ments has been notoriously weak, and its weakness executlve 
is of the same kind as that noted in county government: the 
lack of an effective, responsible head (see page 408). 

In our national government the executive power is concen¬ 
trated in the hands of one man. State constitutions seem to 

confer the same powers upon the governor. The 

. . - T .. . . Comparison of 

constitution of Indiana says, The executive state with 

powers of the State shall be vested in a Governor ”; national 
1 executive 

and that of Pennsylvania says, “The supreme 
executive power shall be vested in the Governor.” But the 
Pennsylvania constitution also says, “The executive depart¬ 
ment shall consist of a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secre¬ 
tary of the Commonwealth, Attorney General, Auditor General, 
State Treasurer, Secretary of Internal Affairs and a Superin¬ 
tendent of Public Instruction” (Art. IV, sec. 1). Four of these 
officers besides the governor are elected by the people. 

In all states the governor “shall take care that the laws be 
faithfully executed” (Pennsylvania constitution). For the 
execution of the laws, however, he is dependent not Bewildering 
only upon a number of principal executive officers complexity 

such as those named above, but also upon a large of adminis- 
, „ , 1 • • • rr trative offices 

number of less important administrative officers. 

Governor Lowden, of Illinois, a few years ago said: 


Administrative agencies have been multiplied in bewildering confusion. 
They have been created without reference to their ability economically and 
effectively to administer the laws. Separate boards govern the peniten¬ 
tiaries, the reformatories, and the educational institutions. Several boards 


424 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


and commissions have charge of matters affecting the agricultural interests. 
Administration of laws affecting labor is parceled out among numerous 
agencies, including several boards having jurisdiction of mining problems 
and several free employment agencies, each independent of the other. Our 
finance administration is chaotic, illogical and confused. 

The administration of the health laws is divided between boards and 
commissions, with no effective means of coordination. Our educational 
agencies are not harmonious. Over one hundred officers, boards, agencies, 
commissions, institutions and departments are charged with the adminis¬ 
tration of our laws. No systematic organization exists, and no adequate con¬ 
trol can be exercised. . . . Under the present system the governor cannot 
exercise the supervision and control which the people have a right to demand. 1 


This condition of affairs is characteristic of state governments 
generally. Some of the numerous officers are appointed by the 
G governor, but many of them are elected by the 

lacks power people or appointed by the legislature. Their 

to meet his terms of office do not coincide with that of the 
governor, so that he finds in office many persons 
whom he did not appoint, and whom he cannot remove. Often 
they may be of an opposite political party. Thus the very 
organization of the state executive department is such as to 
make it impossible for the governor to perform the duty, imposed 
upon him by the constitution, of seeing to it that the laws are 
faithfully executed. It must be remembered, moreover, that 
the execution of the laws is also dependent largely upon a mul¬ 
titude of local officers over whom the state exercises little con¬ 
trol (see p. 413). It is apparent how imperfect must be the 
team work of the people through this organization. 

Why have the people put up with this sort of thing? For 
u ccessful ° ne they have not understood where the 

efforts at trouble lies. There is also seen the influence of 

control" the political “boss,” who thrives under this con¬ 

fusion. But among the causes is the desire of 
the people to maintain control over government. They have 


1 Charles E. Woodward, “The Illinois Civil Administrative Code,” reprinted from 
Proceedings , Academy of Political Science, July, 1918. 


OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 


425 



attempted, in their constitutions, not only to say just what 
services should be performed for them, but also to specify 
just what machinery should be used for their performance. 
For every new service, they have created a new and independent 
piece of machinery. Then, to make their control complete, as 
they thought, they have made most of their new officers elec¬ 
tive. Experience has shown that control of this kind has been 


State Capitol of Pennsylvania at Harrisburg 

gained only at the sacrifice of efficient service, through failure 
to provide trained leadership and effective organization. More¬ 
over, experience has also shown that control of this kind is 
largely a delusion; for the people cannot keep in touch with their 
multitude of officers, and in many cases yield their control, 
often unknowingly, to the political “boss.” 

In noting these defects, it is not to be concluded that our 
state governments have been a failure in all re- Experiment 
spects. Far from it. Notable progress has been necessary to 
made toward the ideals toward which we have been p g 
striving. We have tried one experiment after another, some of 




















426 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


which have been highly successful, but others of which have 
not met the test of new conditions. It is important, however, 
that we should face our failures squarely and profit by them. 

At the present time there is a marked effort to overcome the 
defects that we have just noted, and a good deal of progress 
Reorganiza- toward it has been made in some states. One of 
tion of the most progressive states in this particular is 

executive Illinois, which has recently enacted a law for the 
reorganization of its executive branch of government. 


Under the new “Civil Administrative Code” of Illinois, the executive 
branch of government is organized in nine departments: the departments 
of finance, of agriculture, of labor, of mines and minerals, of public works 
and buildings, of public welfare, of public health, of trade and commerce, 
and of registration and education. 

At the head of each department is a director, who is appointed by the 
governor, is responsible to him, and whose term of office is the same as that 
of the governor. 

Each department is organized into various bureaus, or other subdivisions, 
with officers in charge who are directly responsible to the director of the 
department. Thus, in the department of agriculture there is an assistant 
director, a general manager of the state fair, a superintendent of foods and 
dairies, a superintendent of animal industry, a superintendent of plant 
industry, a chief veterinarian, a chief game and fish warden, and a food 
standard commission of three members. 

All subordinate employees in all departments are appointed under a civil 
service law which requires competitive examinations. 

Associated with most of the departments are “advisory boards” consist¬ 
ing of citizens who serve without pay. Thus, the department of agriculture 
has a board of agricultural advisers composed of fifteen persons, and a board 
of state fair advisers of nine persons, not more than three of whom shall be 
appointed from any one county. 


The things aimed at in this reorganization are: (i) fixing 
responsibility for the entire service-organization in one place — 
with the governor; (2) responsible, trained leadership in each 
department of service; (3) responsiveness of leadership to the 
people’s wants, as provided for by the advisory boards; (4) a 


OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 


427 


system of accounting and records that will make for efficiency 
and economy, and that will inform the people as well as the 
officers of government. 

Investigate and report on: 

The name of the governor of your state, his political party, when elected, 
for how long a term. 

Advantages and disadvantages of a long term for the governor. 

The constitutional powers of the governor of your state. 

The influence of the governor of your state with the people. 

The principal executive and administrative officers of your state. Those 
that are elective and those that are appointive. 

A complete list of the administrative bureaus, boards, commissions, and 
other state agencies, with their duties. 

The application of Governor Lowden’s statement regarding Illinois 
(p. 423) to your state. 

Any proposed reorganization of the executive branch of your state 
government. 

The legislative branch of government consists, in all states, of 
a legislature (“general assembly,” “legislative assembly,” or 
“general court”) composed of two “houses” or Theiegisla- 
“ chambers,” the house of representatives and the tive branch 
senate. The senate is the “upper house,” and is usually from 
one third to one half the size of the “lower house”; in Massa¬ 
chusetts only one sixth the size. 

A bill to become a law must pass both houses separately, 
each house acting as a check upon the other, thus securing 
greater deliberation in lawmaking. The senate The two 
is supposed to be, and usually is, a more conserva- houses 
tive, or cautious, body than the house of representatives, partly 
because of its smaller size which makes possible a more careful 
consideration of business. Its members are elected from larger 
districts, thus increasing the opportunity to select able men. 
A higher age qualification is required for membership in the 
senate than in the house of representatives; and only a part of 
the senate is elected at each election, so that it is a continuing 


428 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 



body, always containing members of experience, while the lower 
house may be almost entirely changed at each election. 

It is a theory of our representative government that repre¬ 
sentation should be proportional to population. To secure this 
. result, each state is divided into election districts 
distribution presumably of as nearly equal population as pos- 
of repre- sible, the senatorial districts being the larger. In 
practice, however, these districts do not always 
have representation proportional to their population. The 


Hall of Representatives, Pennsylvania Capitol 


county is often the unit of representation, or in New England 
the town, and these districts vary greatly in population. An 
attempt is made to equalize the difference by providing that no 
district shall have less than one representative, and often that 
none shall have more than a certain number. Inequalities 
nevertheless exist. In Connecticut, 














OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 


429 

thirty-four of the most populous towns and cities have sixty-eight members 
in the lower house, whereas if the distribution were made on the basis of 
population they would be entitled to 186 members. Again, four of the 
smallest Connecticut towns, with a total population of 1567, have five mem¬ 
bers ; four of the most populous cities, containing 309,982 inhabitants, have 
only eight members, whereas on the basis of population they would be en¬ 
titled to eighty-seven. 1 

Partisan influences often enter into the districting of states for 
representation, the party in power trying to fix boundaries so 
as to insure keeping their majority in the legislature. 

Investigate and report on the following: 

Number of members in the lower and upper houses of your legislature. 
Qualifications for membership and term of office in each house. 

Names of your own representative and senator. 

Secure a map showing legislative districts of your state. Locate your own. 
Whether representation in your legislature is proportional to population. 
The “gerrymander”': what is it, and has it been used in your state? 

The legislature controls our lives at almost every turn. 

It has control over the whole domain of civil law; 2 that is, it lays down 
the rules governing contracts, real and personal property, inheritance, 
corporations, mortgages, marriage and divorce, and other civil matters. 
It defines crime; that is, it prescribes those actions of the citizen which are 
to be punished by fine or imprisonment or death. It touches the property 
of the citizen not only by regulating its use, but also by imposing upon it a 
burden of taxation. Finally, it has control over the vast domain known as 
the police power, under which it makes regulations concerning public health, 
morals, and welfare, devises rules for the conduct of business and professions, 
and in other ways restrains the liberty of the citizen to do as he pleases. 3 

In view of this importance, it would seem that the people 

would have the keenest interest in their state leg- 

, . Attitude of 

islatures and the greatest respect for them. I his the people 
has not always been the case. As one writer says, J 0 ™* their 
“it has become almost fashionable” to speak slight¬ 
ingly of legislatures and their members, and to talk of them as 

1 C. A. Beard, American Government and Politics, p. 521. 2 See below, p. 437. 

a C. A. Beard, American Government and Politics, p. 516. 


430 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


if they were wholly corrupt and dishonorable. If the very 
best men the community affords are not always chosen for the 
difficult and responsible work of lawmaking, the people have 
no one to blame but themselves. Moreover, the members of 
our legislatures average up very much like their neighbors, and 
most of them are sincerely desirous of serving their state and do 
so to the fullest extent possible under the conditions that exist. 


It is indeed time that a different attitude should be assumed toward these 
bodies. . . . Acquaintance with actual legislatures will immediately reveal 
the fact that they are fairly representative of the American people, and that 
there is in them a great deal of honest effort to grapple with the difficult 
problems of legislation. . . . Before all, there ought to be a sustained effort 
to support the men who are with honest purpose struggling for equitable 
and effective legislation. . . } 


Most of the unwise and harmful legislation has been due, not 
to wrong intentions on the part of legislators, but to the diffi- 
Difficulties culty encountered by a body of men of average 
of wise intelligence and of little experience in dealing with 

legislation public questions, in getting information necessary 
to enable them to decide wisely with respect to the multitude of 
complicated problems that come before them during the brief 
session of the legislature. 


In the lower house of one typical legislature only 19 out of the 252 mem¬ 
bers had ever been members of a legislature before, 123 were farmers, 6 
lawyers, 10 physicians, 48 merchants and manufacturers, 3 bankers, 5 
preachers, 6 insurance men, 2 hotel proprietors, 3 liverymen, 14 laborers or 
artisans, 6 “apparently with no occupation except that of general politician 
and office-seeker.” 

Of the thirty members of the senate of the same legislature, 9 were farm¬ 
ers, 4 lawyers, 4 physicians, and 13 merchants. Seven of these had com¬ 
pleted their education in “academies,” while 13 had never got beyond the 
public schools. 

These men had to decide, in the course of a few weeks, upon an astonish¬ 
ing variety of problems, some of them of the greatest complexity, and all 


* Paul S. Reinsch, American Legislatures and Legislative Methods, p. 126. 


OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 431 

of them affecting the lives of the citizens of the state in a multitude of ways. 
It is not surprising that serious mistakes are sometimes made. 1 

The mere writing of a bill in language that will convey the 
exact meaning intended, and that will not involve undesirable 
and unexpected results, is a difficult matter that requires the 
skill of men trained for it. 

In a number of states an attempt has been made to meet 
these natural difficulties by the establishment of legislative 
reference libraries , or bureaus, in charge of highly Legislative 
trained students who collect all available informa- reference 
tion relating to every possible subject of legislation, bureaus 
keep records of legislation in other states, and place the material 
in convenient form at the disposal of the legislators. Some¬ 
times they provide expert service in the writing of bills in the 
proper form. It is said that such legislative reference bureaus 
have already greatly improved the quality of legislation in 
some of the states. 

It would be impossible for a legislature, acting as a body, to 
give consideration to more than a small fraction of the bills that 
come before it. 

It is said that it is not unusual for more than 2500 bills to be introduced 
at a single session. Legislatures are in session from 40 to 90 days. If the 
session were 60 days, and the working day 10 hours, there would be but 15 
minutes for each of 2500 bills. This time would be divided between the 
two houses. Besides, a great deal of business must be transacted other than 
the consideration and passage of bills. 

To make possible the handling of all this work, each house 
is organized in standing committees. As bills are introduced, 
they are referred to their appropriate committees, The commit _ 
in which most of the work of lawmaking is done, tee system of 
Most of the bills so referred are never reported le s islatlon 
back to the legislature at all, and those that are reported are 

1 C. A. Beard, American Government and Politics, p. 525 (from S. P. Orth, “Our 
State Legislatures,” Atlantic Monthly, vol. xciv, pp. 728 ff. 


432 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


in most cases acted upon by the legislature in accordance 
with the committees’ reports, with little general discussion. 
The procedure followed in referring bills to committees and in 
considering them when they are reported back is determined 
by a complexity of rules that are confusing to the outsider and 
that cannot be explained in detail here. But their declared 
purpose is to save time and to enable the legislative business 
to move smoothly. The small committees can work to better 
advantage than the large body of men in either chamber. The 
work is divided up so that the few members of each committee 
can concentrate their attention upon a few subjects and gain 
experience in handling special kinds of problems. 

On the other hand, it is to this organization that we owe some 
of the bad lawmaking for which our legislatures are blamed, 
invisible It tends to remove legislation from the control of 
government the people, and results in what is often called “in¬ 
visible government,” government that is carried on out of sight 
of the people. It opens a door to partisan influences and to 
control by political “bosses” and self-seeking “interests.” 
In the lower house the committees are appointed by the speaker , 
who is the presiding officer, and who is always chosen by the 
members of the majority party in the house from their own 
number. The senate committees are sometimes appointed by 
the presiding officer of the senate, who is often the lieutenant- 
governor, and sometimes elected by the senate itself. But the 
chairmen and the majority of the members of all committees 
in both houses belong to the majority party, which is thus 
enabled to control legislation for partisan ends if it so desires, 
and it often does so. 

Bills may be “killed” in committee, or reported unfavorably, 
or so amended as to change their meaning entirely, merely at 
Evils of the the will of the party leaders, or of “bosses” and 
system interests outside of the legislature. A large part 

of the work of the committees is carried on in secret. Although 


OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 


433 


“ hearings ” may be held at which citizens may present argu¬ 
ments for and against proposed measures, these may be mere 
matters of form. Influential interests may maintain a lobby at 
the legislature, which means that they are represented there by 
agents who seek to influence the members of the legislature, and 
especially of the committees, sometimes by corrupt methods. 
The lobby often works by secret methods, whereas the “ hear¬ 
ings ” are public. 

The party leaders in control, of whom the most important 
are the speaker of the house, the rules committee, the chairmen 
of committees, and the “floor manager,” by dictating the 
procedure to be followed, may at times make it practically 
impossible for a member of the minority party, or one who has 
incurred the displeasure of the leaders, to gain a hearing. The 
following description gives an idea of what may happen : 1 

Consider the petty annoyances to which a decent member outside the 
“organization” may be subjected, and the methods by which legitimate 
legislation, backed by him, may be blocked. The bill goes to an unfriendly 
committee. The chairman refuses to call the committee together, or when 
forced to call it, a quorum does not attend. . . . Action may be postponed 
on various pretexts, or the bill may be referred to a sub-committee. The 
committee may kill the bill by laying it on the table. On the other hand, 
the committee may decide that the bill be reported to the house to pass. 
Then a common practice is for the chairman to pocket the bill, delaying to 
report it to the house till too late to pass it. When finally reported to the 
house, it goes on the calendar to be read a first time in its order. Then begins 
the advancing of bills by unanimous consent, without waiting to reach them 
in order. Here is where the organization has absolute control. Unanimous 
consent is subject to the speaker’s acuteness of hearing. His hearing is 
sharpened or dulled according to the good standing of the objector or of the 
member pushing the bill. If one not friendly to the house “ organization ” 
wants to have his bill considered over an objection, he must move to suspend 
the rules. The speaker may refuse to recognize him, or may put his motion 
and declare it carried or not carried as suits his and the organization’s desires. 
So the pet bills are jumped over others ahead of them on the calendar, while 

1 From a pamphlet issued by the Illinois Legislative Voters’ League in 1903, 
and quoted by C. A. Beard, American Government and Politics, pp. 539, 540. 


434 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


the ones not having the backing of the house “organization” are retired 
farther and farther down until their ultimate passage becomes hopeless. 
If the bill of the independent member reaches a second reading, it may be 
killed by striking out the enacting clause or by tacking on an obnoxious 
amendment that makes it repulsive to its former friends. ... To carry 
out the will of the organization, the speaker declares amendments carried or 
the contrary by a viva voce vote. Demands for roll-calls are ignored by 
him in violation of the members’ constitutional rights. . . . 


It is such practices as these that have brought state legisla¬ 
tures into bad repute, and that have resulted in measures to 
Efforts to curb their P ower - Instead of leaving it entirely 

curb power to them to make their own rules of procedure, 
of legislatures man y 0 f these rules are now prescribed by the state 
constitutions. It was in order to restrain the legislatures that 
the veto power has been given to the governors of all states but 
one, and that sessions of legislatures have been limited to brief 
periods of from forty to ninety days, and then only once in two 
years. For the same reason state constitutions have taken 
away powers that legislatures once commonly abused, as in 
running the state deeply into debt, or in legislating in the 
interest of particular localities or particular groups; and have 
provided in great detail for many things that were formerly left 
to the discretion of the legislatures. For the same reason some 
states have adopted the initiative and referendum (see p. 380). 


Investigate and report on: 

Powers possessed by either house of your legislature not possessed by 
the other. 

Powers denied your legislature by the federal Constitution. 

Powers denied your legislature by your state constitution. Reasons. 

Attitude of the people of your community toward your legislature. 

Why service in the legislature does not attract more of the most capable 
men of the state. 

The vocations of the members of your legislature. 

Number of bills introduced, and the number passed, at the last session 
of your legislature. 


OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 435 

The purpose of some of the most important laws enacted by your legis¬ 
lature at its last session. 

Why it is difficult to write a bill correctly. 

The legislative reference library, or bureau, of your state (if any). 

The committees in each house of your legislature. 

Procedure by which a bill becomes a law in your state. 

The speaker of the House of Representatives in your state. 

‘‘Invisible government” in your state. 

Laws regulating the “lobby” in your state. 

Frequency and length of legislative sessions in your state. 

Some of the greatest abuses of governing power have been in 
connection with the appropriation of money. They have been 
due not so much to dishonesty as to bad organi¬ 
zation and loose business methods, both in the 
executive and legislative branches of government, methods of 
When the executive branch consists of a large ^^ e ts govern “ 
number of more or less independent parts, as de¬ 
scribed on pages 423, 424, each trying to make the best 
showing possible, it is quite to be expected that each will 
seek to get from the public treasury all the money possible 
without reference to the needs of other parts or to the resources 
of the state. When, in addition, there is no central executive 
authority with power to hold the heads of the various parts 
responsible for their acts, and no uniform or businesslike 
system of keeping accounts, either of money expended or of 
work accomplished, it is easy to see the opportunity for waste¬ 
fulness and inefficiency. 

On the other hand, the methods of making appropriations in 

the legislature have been equally conducive to wastefulness. 

Appropriation bills pass through the same legisla- Wasteful 

tive machinery as all other bills and are subject to methods of 

the same dangers. Moreover, they are handled by makin s a P- 
. , . . . . . propriations 

different committees that act as independently of 

one another as do the various executive departments. In Illinois, 

for example, until recently “ requests for appropriations were 


436 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


submitted informally by each office, department, or board; and 
separate bills were prepared by the several departments and in¬ 
stitutions, and introduced by individual members of the General 
Assembly,” 1 then being referred to different committees accord¬ 
ing to the subjects to which they related. At the session of 1913, 
94 separate appropriation acts were passed. 

A number of the states have sought to remedy this defect in 
government by the adoption of a budget system (see Chapter 
The budget XIII, pp. 174, 175). Illinois has perhaps made 
system the m0 st complete reform in this matter. We have 

already seen how that state has reorganized its executive branch 
of government (p. 426), which is the first necessary step. 
In this reorganization there was created a finance department, 
to which all the administrative departments submit a careful 
estimate of the money needed for their various lines of work, 
together with a detailed statement of work done and money 
spent during the two preceding years. The finance department 
considers all these statements and estimates in their relation to 
one another and to the financial resources available for the 
next two years, and submits to the governor a comprehensive 
and detailed budget. On the basis of this, a single appropria¬ 
tion bill is prepared by a single committee of the legislature. 
Public hearings are held, the people are given opportunity to 
know just what the government has done and intends to do, 
and the governor and his finance department may be held 
responsible. 

No single change would add so largely to both democracy and efficiency 
as the introduction of proper budget methods. 2 

1 John A. Fairlie, Budget Methods in Illinois, Annals of the American Academy 
of Political and Social Science, November, 1915; quoted by W. F. Willoughby, in 
The Movement for Budgetary Reform in the States, p. 45. 

2 Foreword to Public Budgets, Annals of the American Academy of Political and 
Social Science, November, 1915; quoted by W. F. Willoughby, The Movement for 
Budgetary Reform in the States, p. 2. 


OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 


437 


Investigate and report on: 

Method of making appropriations in your state. 

Movement for a budget system in your state. 

Why a budget system tends toward (i) economy, (2) efficiency, (3) 
democracy. 

Questions are continually arising as to the meaning of laws, 
or as to how they apply in particular cases. To answer these 
questions the judicial branch of government exists, The judicial 
comprising a system of courts. The courts are branch 
sometimes called upon to decide whether a law passed by the 
legislature, or an act of an administrative officer, is in harmony 
with the constitution, and if not, to declare such law or act 
invalid. The judicial branch of government is therefore the 
people’s organization to keep the other branches of government 
within their constitutional powers. 

In most cases that come before the courts, however, the law 
is perfectly clear when once the facts in the case are known. 
It is therefore the business of the courts also to . 

ascertain the facts. There are two classes of cases criminal 
that come before the courts, civil cases and criminal cases 
cases; and the law that applies to the two classes is known, as 
civil law and criminal law. A civil case is one that involves 
a dispute between individuals, or an injury done by one indi¬ 
vidual to another. Such would be a dispute over a boundary 
line between the properties of two individuals, or over the pay¬ 
ment of a debt; or a personal injury due to the carelessness of 
some one, or an injury to property or to health through main¬ 
taining a nuisance of some kind. In such cases the court, 
after ascertaining the facts, merely sees that justice is done, as 
by the payment of damages to the injured party by the one doing 
the injury. A criminal case is one in which a person is charged 
with having violated a law of the community. The injury is 
one against the community as a whole, and not merely against 
an individual. It is the community that appears in court against 


438 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 



the accused person, and not merely one of his neighbors. In 
such cases the court first ascertains the guilt or innocence of 
the accused person; and if he is guilty, imposes a punishment 
upon him, such as a fine, or imprisonment, or even death, ac¬ 
cording to the nature of the crime. 

The judicial branch of government, then, is that part of the 
governmental organization that seeks to adjust, by peaceful and 
just means, the inevitable conflicts that arise in community life. 


A Criminal Trial in Progress 

The lowest in the series of state courts are the justices’ courts , 
of which there is at least one in every township. They are 
Justices’ presided over by justices of the peace. Only cases 
courts 0 f sma n moment come before justices’ courts: 

civil cases involving very small amounts, and cases of minor 
infractions of the law punishable by small fines or by short 
terms in jail. Persons accused of more serious crimes may have 
a preliminary examination in a justice’s court and, if the evi¬ 
dence warrants it, be committed to jail to await the action of 









OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 


439 


the grand jury (see below). Most cases in a justice’s court 
are disposed of by the justice of the peace alone; but a jury 
trial may be demanded in all criminal cases, and in civil suits 
“where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars” 
(Const., Amendments VI, VII). 

More serious cases, civil or criminal, are tried in the county, 

or district, courts before a judge and a jury. Cases that have 

been tried in a justice’s court may be appealed to ^ 

J . County courts 

the county or district court, where there is sure to 

be a jury trial, and where the judge is more learned in the law 
than is a justice of the peace. It is the business of the jury to 
decide on the facts in the case on the evidence furnished in the 
trial, and in civil cases to award the amount of damages, if any, 
to be paid; while the judge sees that the procedure is in accord¬ 
ance with the law, instructs the jury as to the law in the case, 
and in criminal cases fixes the penalty within the limits per¬ 
mitted by the law. 

It was stated above that in criminal cases it is the community 
that appears against the accused. The community appears 
in the person of the district attorney, otherwise The cQm _ 
called the prosecuting attorney, state’s attorney, munityin 
or county solicitor. It is the business of this officer 
to gather evidence of crimes committed in the community and, 
in most cases, to submit it to the grand jury, which is a body of 
citizens carefully chosen to consider such evidence. If the 
grand jury considers the evidence against the accused sufficient 
to warrant bringing him to trial, it brings in an indictment 
against him. The prosecuting attorney then prosecutes the 
case for the community against the accused. It is of course 
his duty to secure exact justice; sometimes, however, he seems 
interested only in securing the conviction of the accused. 

Our state and national constitutions seek to protect carefully 
the rights of a person accused of crime. He is assumed to be 
innocent until he has been proved otherwise. He is guaranteed 


440 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


superior 

courts 


a “speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury.” He must 
be “confronted with witnesses against him,” and have “com- 
Rights of pulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his 
the accused favor,” and “assistance of counsel for his defense ” 
(Const., Amendment VI). He cannot be compelled to be a 
witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or prop¬ 
erty, without “due process of law” (Amendment V). “Exces¬ 
sive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor 
cruel and unusual punishments inflicted ” (Amendment VIII). 

In some states there is another set of courts immediately 
above the county courts, known as circuit, district, or superior, 
n . .. courts. The districts in which these courts have 

circuit or 

jurisdiction include several counties. The cases 
handled by them are either cases of appeal from 
the lower courts, or cases of greater importance than those over 
which the lower courts have jurisdiction. 

The highest court in the state is the supreme court, sometimes 
called the court of appeals, or the court of errors. In the supreme 
The state court several judges sit together, and there is no 
supreme jury. The cases that come before it are for the 
most part cases of appeal from the lower courts, 
although there are certain classes of cases that come before it 
in the first instance. The supreme court is the final judge as 
to whether acts of the legislature are in conformity with the 
state constitution. 

In addition to the courts named above there are sometimes 
others to deal with special classes of cases. In cities there are 
municipal courts and police courts, both in the same 
class with justices’ courts. There are juvenile 
courts to deal with juvenile offenders; probate, or surrogate, 
courts to settle the estates of persons who have died; courts 
of claims to settle claims against the state; and chancery courts, 
or courts of equity, which administer justice in cases that the 
ordinary law will not reach. 


Other courts 


OUR STATE GOVERNMENTS 


441 


For example, the law will permit a man’s property to be taken to satisfy 
a mortgage; equity requires that the property be sold and the surplus over 
the amount of the mortgage returned to the owner. The law will grant 
damages for any injury inflicted; equity will, by an injunction, forbid a 
repetition of the injury. 

The judges of the state courts were originally appointed by 
the governors, or by the legislatures. With the movement 
toward more democratic forms of government, the Selection of 
states began to introduce provisions in their consti- i ud £ es 
tutions for the election of judges by the people, and they are 
now so chosen in most states, though in a number they are 
appointed by the governor, and in a few by the legislature. It 
is highly important that judges should be controlled in their 
decisions solely by the desire to render justice, and that they 
should be removed as far as possible from partisan influences. 
Popular election of judges is most prevalent because it seems to 
give to the people the most direct control over their courts. 
On the other hand, it is opposed by many because it makes 
possible the election . of incompetent judges, and because it 
does not necessarily remove the matter from partisan influences. 
In three states (California, Oregon and Arizona) the judges 
are subject to recall by the people (see p. 391). 

The terms during which judges hold office also vary greatly 
among the states. In three states they hold office for life 
(Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire). In the 
other states their terms vary from two to twenty-one years. 

It seems to be the opinion of most students that the state 
courts would be improved if their judges were appointed by the 
chief executive and should hold office for life, or during good 
behavior, as is the case in the federal courts (see p. 473). 

Investigate and report on: 

Civil law and criminal law. * 

What makes an act a “crime.” 

Difference between a “crime” and a “misdemeanor.” 


442 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Justices’ courts in your community. 

Procedure in a justice’s court. 

The organization of your county court. 

Who is your county (or district) judge. 

Procedure in your county court, and how it differs from that in the jus¬ 
tice’s court. 

Organization and work of the grand jury. 

How a trial jury is selected. 

The citizen’s duty to serve on the jury. 

Rights of an accused person. 

Meaning of “bail,” “indictment,” “due process of law,” “counsel for 
defense,” “subpoena,” “true bill.” 

Circumstances under which an appeal may be made. 

The supreme court of your state. 

The work of a juvenile court. 

READINGS 

State Constitution. 

Reports of the several departments of the state government. 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series B: Lesson 18, How state laws are made and enforced. 

The Civil Administrative Code of the State of Illinois, compiled by Louis L. Emmer- 
son. Secretary of State, Springfield, Ill. * 

The Illinois Civil Administrative Code, by Charles E. Woodward, The Academy 
of Political Science, Columbia University, New York City. 

Beard, Chas. A., American Government and Politics, Part iii, State government. 
Hart, A. B., Actual Government, Part iii, State governments in action. 

Reed, T. H., Form and Functions of American Government, Part iii, State govern¬ 
ment. 

Bryce, James, The American Commonwealth, vol. i, Part ii, The State governments. 
In Long’s American Patriotic Prose: 

Invisible government (Elihu Root), pp. 261-264. 

In Foerster and Pierson’s American Ideals: 

How to Preserve the Local Self-Government of the States (Elihu Root), pp. 48-55. 


CHAPTER XXVII 


OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


It was the necessity for team work in carrying on the War 
for Independence that led the thirteen American colonies for 
the first time to unite under a common govern- The Revolu _ 
ment. They had revolted to escape from an auto- tionary 
cratic government, and they sought to avoid set- Government 
ting up another in its place. Since it had been the king whom 
they distrusted most, they endeavored to get along without 
any executive head at all. Their new government consisted 
solely of a Congress of delegates from the thirteen states. 

This form of government was continued for several years 
after the Revolution under a constitution known as the Articles 
of Confederation. It was, however, unsuccessful 
in securing anything like real national cooperation. p^ r j Q ^ ntlcal 
The Congress had no power to levy and collect 
taxes, it had little power to make laws, and it was without 
means to execute the laws that it did make. The real govern¬ 
ing power during this period was with the several states. The 
result was a period of unutterable confusion which has been 
called “the critical period of American history.” The question 
at stake was whether a number of self-governing state communi¬ 
ties with a multitude of apparently conflicting interests could 
really become a nation. 

During the war Benjamin Franklin had said, “We must all 
hang together or we shall all hang separately.” The states 
had “hung together” sufficiently to win the war; ThenewCon- 
but the wise men of the time now saw the need for stitution 
a government so organized and with such powers as to secure 

443 


444 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


effective cooperation among all the states and all the people 
at all times for the welfare of the entire Union, while leaving 
each state free to manage its own local affairs. Therefore 
a convention of delegates from all the states was called together 
at Philadelphia in 1787 to revise the Articles of Confederation. 
The result was our present Constitution under which our present 
national government went into effect in 1789. 

Investigate and report: 

The nature and causes of the confusion during “the critical period” of 
American history. 

The leading men of the Constitutional Convention. 

How the states ratified the Constitution. 

Which of the original thirteen states did not ratify the Constitution until 
after it had gone into effect. 

The number of states required to ratify before the Constitution went 
into effect (Constitution, Art. VII). 


“ We, the people of the United States” “ordained and estab¬ 
lished” the Constitution (see the Preamble). It was also 
“ordained” in the Constitution (Art. V) that it 
troi through could be amended only by methods designed to give 

the Con- to the people control over the matter — greater 

stitution , 1 , , . 

control than they have over ordinary lawmaking. 

A great many amendments have been proposed in the course 
of time, but only nineteen have so far been adopted, ten of 
these having been adopted in the very beginning as a con¬ 
dition on which the states would accept the Constitution at all. 
None of these amendments changed the form of our govern¬ 
ment except with respect to the methods of electing the Presi¬ 
dent and United States senators (Amendments XII and 
XVII). 


Explain the two methods of proposing, and the two methods of ratifying, 
amendments (Constitution, Art. VII). 

Has there every been a national constitutional convention called by the 
states ? 


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445 












446 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Which of the two methods of ratifying was used in the case of the last 
amendment adopted ? 1 

Did your state vote to ratify or to reject the last amendment ? 

If any amendment is now before the states for ratification, watch the 
newspapers for the action of the various states. 


The Constitution adopted in 1787 has met the needs of our 
growing nation in a most remarkable way. It would be a mis- 
take, however, to think that it has always met new 
ment a grow- conditions perfectly, or that we are governed to-day 
mg thing exactly as was intended by the framers of the Con¬ 
stitution. Although few amendments have been made, inter¬ 
pretations have been placed on the Constitution that were prob¬ 
ably unthought of by the framers or by the people who ratified 
it; and practices have grown up in our government that have 
made it quite a different government from that which was 
anticipated. Our government is a growing thing, and one of 
the chief merits of our Constitution is the fact that it speaks 
in such general terms that it has been possible, under it, to adapt 
our government to new and unexpected conditions. In this 
respect it differs from the detailed state constitutions (p. 420). 

On the other hand, conditions have arisen with the growth of 
our nation that our Constitution has not enabled us to meet 
with the greatest success, and that we have not 
yet met by amendment. In some cases we have 
tried to get around the difficulties by devices not provided for 
in the Constitution, sometimes with unfortunate results. But 
a recognition of defects in our government should not cause us 
to lose respect for the Constitution. They are due not to posi¬ 
tive blunders on the part of the framers, but to the mere absence 
of provision for conditions that did not exist when the Constitu¬ 
tion was framed and that could not be foreseen by the wisest 


Defects 

inevitable 


1 Ohio by a referendum (see p. 380) in 1919 submitted the eighteenth amendment 
to the people of the state for their vote, after it had been ratified by the legislature. 
This was the first time in our history that an amendment to the Constitution was 
submitted to popular vote for ratification. 


OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


447 


men of that time. The wise course for all good citizens is 
to seek to understand clearly wherein our government fails to 
meet our needs, if it does fail, and then to seek to correct the 
difficulty, under the existing terms of the Constitution if possible, 
or by amendment of the Constitution if that becomes clearly 
necessary. Amendment of the Constitution was purposely 
made difficult, and this was doubtless wise, for it tends to pre¬ 
vent changes without full consideration of their needs and 
probable effects. 

Radical changes in our form of government and in our established laws 
are always fraught with danger. Because of the extreme complexity of 
community life a change effected at one point to meet a particular evil may 
have consequences of the most far-reaching kind and in the most unexpected 
directions. A change that corrects one evil may produce conditions resulting 
in evils even worse than the first. Changes are necessary at times, but they 
should be made only after the most careful consideration by men of the 
widest possible experience. 

One thing that stood out clearly after the Revolution was 
the fear of a strong national government. Some of the states 
refused to ratify the Constitution unless amend- The bill of 
ments were added at once guaranteeing the liber- n s hts 
ties of the people. The first ten amendments, known as the 
“bill of rights,” were the result. To make sure that no impor¬ 
tant rights were left unguarded, the ninth amendment provides 
that “the enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights 
shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by 
the people.” 

Read the first ten amendments and discuss the meaning of each. 

It was clearly expected that most of the governing powers to 
which the people were subject should be exercised by the states, 
and not by the national government. The na- A government 
tional government was to exercise no powers except of delegated 
such as were delegated to it in the Constitution. powers 
These powers are important ones, but few in number, and are 


44-8 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


listed in section 8 of Article I. In order to make this limitation 
of powers perfectly clear, the tenth amendment declares that 
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Consti¬ 
tution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the 
states respectively or to the people.” Certain powers were also 
expressly denied to the national government in section 9 of 
Article I. 



President Wilson Reading the Armistice Terms Before 
Congress, November ii, 1918 

Discuss the meaning of each clause in Article I, section 8. 

Discuss the meaning of each clause in Article I, section 9. 

The powers of the national government relate to interstate 
and foreign affairs, or to matters that the several states could 
The scope of not wel * re g u l ate without confusion or injustice, 
national For example, it was chiefly the confusion in matters 
powers pertaining to trade in the period following the Revo¬ 

lution that made the new government necessary. Therefore 
power was given to it “ to regulate commerce with foreign na- 










OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


449 


tions and among the several states, and with the Indian tribes.” 
So, also, it was given power “ to coin money, regulate the value 
thereof, and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights 
and measures,” for varying systems of coinage and of weights 
and measures would be inconvenient. For similar reasons it 
was empowered “to establish post-offices and post-roads,” 
“to establish an uniform rule of naturalization” for immigrants, 
and “to promote the progress of science and useful arts” by 
giving copyrights and patents to authors and inventors. The 
states, on the other hand, were expressly forbidden to exercise 
any control over some such matters of national and international 
concern in section io of Article I. 

Read section io, Art. I, and discuss the reasons why the powers there 
mentioned should have been denied to the states. 

Not only did the framers of the Constitution carefully limit 
the powers that the national government might exercise, but 
they also introduced into the organization of the Thesystemo f 
government various devices to control it and to checks and 
prevent any of its parts from assuming too much balances 
power. The most important of these is the system of checks 
and balances. In our national government, as in the state 
governments (see p. 420), the legislative, executive, and 
judicial powers are separated. In early times in England, the 
king could make any laws he wished, he could enforce them as 
he pleased, and he controlled the courts of justice. In our 
government the legislature, composed of representatives of the 
people, makes the laws; the executive branch of government 
sees to their enforcement; and the courts, which are responsible 
neither to the legislature nor to the executive, interpret the laws 
and administer justice in accordance with the laws. This sepa¬ 
ration of powers is to prevent any one person or group of persons 
from exercising too much power, as the king did, and is a safe¬ 
guard to the liberty of the people. But the separation of powers 


45° 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


is not complete. Each branch of government has a limited control 
over the others. This constitutes the system of checks and bal¬ 
ances, which still further protects the people’s liberties. 

While the President cannot make the laws, he is given a check upon the 
lawmaking power of Congress by his veto power. On the other hand, he 
cannot, by an excessive use of his veto power, destroy the lawmaking power 
of Congress, because Congress may pass laws over the President’s veto by 
means of a two-thirds vote. 

The President cannot make a treaty, nor appoint men to office, without 
the consent of the senate; neither can he exercise his executive powers 
until Congress votes him the necessary money. 

If Congress passes a law that is contrary to the Constitution the courts 
may declare the law void, and the executive cannot enforce it. The courts, 
on the other hand, are in a measure under the control of both Congress and 
the President, for Congress may create and destroy courts (except those 
created by the Constitution), and the President, with the consent of the 
senate, appoints the judges. 

The “checks and balances” in the organization of our govern¬ 
ment have been very effective in accomplishing the purpose 
for which they were intended, namely, to protect 
the liberties of the people against despotic govern¬ 
ment. But they have also, at times, been an 
obstacle to team work and to effective service. It 
sometimes happens, for example, that the Presi¬ 
dent represents one political party, while the majority of one 
or both houses of Congress are of the opposing party. The 
two branches of government may then enter into a struggle 
on partisan grounds, each trying to defeat the program of the 
other. Such a situation was probably unforeseen by the fram¬ 
ers of the Constitution, although it again reminds us of Wash¬ 
ington’s warning with regard to the dangers of the party spirit 

(p- 385)- 

With the growth of our nation, the national government has 
come to perform a vast amount of service, as we have seen in 
earlier chapters, and to regulate the lives of the people in a 


Advantages 
and disad¬ 
vantages of 
checks and 
balances 


OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


451 


multitude of ways little dreamed of by the makers of the Con¬ 
stitution. This has been possible because of the principle of 
implied powers in the Constitution. This means 
that some of the powers expressly granted in the 
Constitution have been broadly interpreted to imply national 
powers not expressly stated. There are certain government 
clauses in the Constitution that especially lend themselves to 
such broad interpretation. For example, after the enumeration 
of the powers which Congress may exercise, in section 8 of 
Article I, clause 18 of that section gives Congress power “to 
make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying 
into execution the foregoing powers ...” Another clause 
whose liberal interpretation has been responsible for much of 
the service performed by the national government is that giv¬ 
ing it the power to regulate interstate commerce (Art. I, sec. 8, 
clause 3). 


In the early days of our government the Federalist party, under the 
leadership of Alexander Hamilton, proposed the creation of a national bank. 
The Republican party under Jefferson opposed this because the Constitution 
did not expressly provide for it, and because it was feared that it would give 
the national government too much power. But the “ broad construction¬ 
ists” argued that a national bank was a “necessary and proper” means 
to enable the national government “to borrow money on the credit of the 
United States” and to exercise other financial powers expressly granted in 
the Constitution. The supreme court of the United States supported the 
latter view, and the national bank became a fact. 

The building of roads and other internal improvements by the national 
government have always been opposed by the “strict constructionists,” 
except where roads were clearly “post-roads” (Art. I, sec. 8, cl. 7). But the 
“broad constructionists” argued that roads were “necessary and proper” 
to provide “for the common defense,” and also as a means “to regulate 
commerce among the several states.” 

Most of the work that the national government has done for the promo¬ 
tion of the public health, such as the passage and enforcement of the “pure 
food and drugs act,” the inspection of livestock and of slaughter-houses, 
and the attempt to regulate child labor, has been done under the authority 
of the clause giving Congress power to regulate interstate commerce. 


45 2 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


It has been the duty of the Supreme Court of the United States 
to decide finally whether much of the new service undertaken 
Expan ' f the na ti°nal government is in accordance with 
powers by the Constitution or not, and this court has been 

derision responsible for most of the expansion of the serv¬ 

ice rendered, because of its liberal interpretation 
of the Constitution. 

Why should the power to regulate interstate commerce also give Con¬ 
gress the power to require the inspection of cattle in your neighborhood? 
or to forbid the use of harmful substances in patent medicines ? or to forbid 
the employment in factories of children ? 

Find out what you can about the influence of John Marshall, Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court, in extending the powers of the national 
government. 

The Constitution vests the executive power in the President 
of the United States (Art. II, sec. i), and he alone is responsible 
The executive to P eo Pl e f° r execution of the laws. The 
centralized people are protected against abuse of this power in 
and controlled hands of one man by various constitutional 
provisions. The President’s term of office is limited to four 
years, though he may be reelected. In case of improper conduct 
in office, he may be removed by impeachment. The impeach¬ 
ment charges must be brought against him by the House of 
Representatives, and the Senate, presided over by the Chief 
Justice of the Supreme Court, must act as a court to try the 
case. Moreover, even the President must act according to law, 
and in so far as his duties are not prescribed by the Constitution 
they are prescribed by Congress. Congress must also create 
the machinery by which the President executes the laws, and it 
must appropriate the necessary money. The Senate exercises 
a further control over the President in that it must approve all 
appointments and all treaties made by him. 

The method of electing the President provided in the Con¬ 
stitution was intended to insure a wise choice, and also shows 


OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


453 


a lack of complete confidence in the people on the part of the 
framers of the Constitution. He was to be elected by a body of 
electors , chosen by the several states ‘‘ in such manner Method of 
as the legislatures thereof may direct/’ the number electing the 
of electors from each state to equal the whole number President 
of senators and representatives from that state (Art. II, sec. 2). 
These electors were originally chosen by the legislatures of the 
states, but are now elected by the people. When voters “vote 
for the President” every four years, they in reality only vote 
for these electors who, in turn, cast their votes for the President. 

In the method of electing the President we find one of the 
points where the intention of the framers of the Constitution 
has clearly been thwarted. It was obviously the 
intention that the electors chosen by the states fromthein- 
should use their own discretion in the choice of the tention of 
President. But in practice to-day, the entire body Jut i( ^ onstl ~ 
of electors from each state always represents the 
victorious political party, and casts its vote invariably for the 
presidential candidate already nominated by the party ma¬ 
chinery (see p. 391). We still elect the electors, and the 
electors go through the form of electing the President; but their 
part in the procedure is now entirely useless. 

The Vice-President of the United States is elected at the 
same time and by the same method as the President. But he 
has no executive duties whatever so long as the The Vice- 
President is capable of performing his duties. In President 
order that he might have something to do, he was made pre¬ 
siding officer of the Senate, but even there he has no vote. 

Investigate and report: 

The qualifications necessary to hold the office of President (Const., Art. 
II, sec. 1, cl. 5). 

How the electors elect the President (Const., Amend. XII). 

Who would become President if both the President and the Vice-President 
should die. 


454 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


The salary of the President. 

The oath taken by the President on assuming office. The difference be¬ 
tween an oath and an affirmation (Art. II, sec. i, cl. 8). 

The powers of the President (Art. II, sec. 2). 

A President who was impeached. 

Why no President has been elected for a third term. 

Advantages and disadvantages of a longer term for the President. 


The President is at the head of a stupendous service organiza¬ 
tion which was not ready-made by the Constitution, but which 
has been gradually created by acts of Congress 

Growth of the . . . . .. . d ~ 

national under its express and implied powers. The Con- 

service or- stitution did not even create the great adminis¬ 

trative departments through which the President 
works, although it implied that such departments should be 
created: “The President . . . may require the opinion, in 
writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive depart¬ 
ments, upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective 
offices” (Art. II, sec. 2, cl. 1). The heads of these departments 
are appointed by the President, are responsible to him, and may 
be removed by him. Together they constitute the President’s 
cabinet , meeting with him frequently to discuss the affairs of 
their departments and matters of public policy. 

Five of these administrative departments were created during 
Washington’s administration. These five have grown to cover 
The adminis- a multitude of activities that were not at first con- 
trative de- templated, and five other great departments have 
partments s i nce been created. 


The Department of State maintains relations between the United States 
and foreign powers. The Secretary of State, acting for the President, 
negotiates treaties with foreign governments, and is in constant communi¬ 
cation with the ambassadors, ministers, consuls, and other representatives 
of our government in foreign countries, and with similar representatives 
of foreign governments in this country. This department is the medium of 
communication between the President and the governors of the several states. 
The Secretary of State has in his keeping the treaties and laws of the United 


OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


455 


States, and also the Great Seal of the United States, which he affixes to 
proclamations, commissions, and other official papers. Through him the 
rights of American citizens in foreign countries are looked after. He is 
first in rank among the members of the cabinet, and by law would succeed 
to the Presidency in case of the death or disability of both the President and 
the Vice-President. 

The Department of the Treasury has at its head the Secretary of the Treas- 
who is the financial manager of the national government. He prepares 



President Wilson and His Cabinet as First Constituted 


plans for, and superintends the collection of, the public revenues; deter¬ 
mines the manner of keeping the public accounts; directs the coinage and 
printing of money. He also controls the construction and maintenance of 
public buildings, and administers the public health service and the life-saving 
service. 

The Department of War is directed by the Secretary of War, who, under 
the President, controls the military establishment and superintends the 
national defense. He also administers river and harbor improvements, 
the prevention of obstruction to navigation, and the building of bridges 
over navigable rivers when authorized by Congress. He also has direction 
of the Bureau of Insular Affairs, which supervises the government of Porto 
Rico and the Philippines. 








456 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


The Department of Justice has at its head the Attorney General, 
who is the chief law officer of the government, and represents it in all 
matters of a legal nature. He is the legal adviser of the President and 
of the several executive departments, and supervises all United States 
attorneys and marshals in the judicial districts into which the country 
is divided. 

The Post-Office Department is administered by the Postmaster General 
(see pp. 279-282). 

The Department of the Navy, under the Secretary of the Navy, has charge 
of the “construction, manning, equipment, and employment of vessels of 
war.” 

The Department of the Interior was created to relieve the Department 
of State of work relating to internal affairs, and now embraces a wide variety 
of duties. At its head is the Secretary of the Interior. Through many 
bureaus and divisions it administers the public lands, the national parks, 
the giving of patents for inventions, the pensioning of soldiers, Indian affairs, 
education, the reclamation service, the geological survey, the improvement 
of mining methods for the safety of miners, certain matters pertaining to 
the territories of the United States, and certain institutions in the District 
of Columbia. 

The Department of Agriculture is directed by the Secretary of Agriculture. 
Its work is described in Chapter XII. 

The Department of Commerce, under the Secretary of Commerce, pro¬ 
motes the commercial interests of the country in many ways. It includes 
in its organization the Bureau of Foreign and Domestic Commerce, the 
Bureau of Corporations, the Census Bureau, the Bureau of Lighthouses, 
the Bureau of Navigation, the Bureau of Fisheries, and the Bureau of 
Standards. 

The Department of Labor, under the Secretary of Labor, has for its pur¬ 
pose “fostering, promoting, and developing the welfare of the wage earners 
of the United States, improving their working conditions, and advancing 
their opportunities for profitable employment.” Among its important 
bureaus are those of Immigration and of Naturalization, and the Children’s 
Bureau, which investigates and reports upon “all matters pertaining to the 
welfare of children and child life among all classes of our people.” 

In addition to these great administrative departments with 
Other admin- their numerou s bureaus and subdivisions, there 
istrative are various boards, commissions and establishments 
agencies that are independent of the departments. 


OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


457 


Some of the most important of these are the Interstate Commerce Com¬ 
mission, the Civil Service Commission (see below), the Federal Reserve 
Board, the Federal Trade Commission, the United States Tariff Commission, 
the Board of Mediation and Conciliation, the United States Bureau of 
Efficiency, the Federal Board of Vocational Education, the Panama Canal. 

Of another kind are the Library of Congress which includes the Copy¬ 
right Office; the Government Printing Office; the Smithsonian Institution, 
including the National Museum and the National Zoological Park. 

There are many others. During the recent war a great variety of new 
administrative commissions and boards were created for the emergency. 
Most of these have been, or are to be, discontinued, though some of them 
may survive. Such were the Council of National Defense, the Committee 
on Public Information, the Food Administration, the Fuel Administration, 
the United States Shipping Board, the War Trade Board, the Director 
General of Railroads. 

The detailed work of this vast service organization is carried 
on by about 400,000 employees (not counting the army and the 
navy). These constitute the civil service. The The civil 
quality of service depends largely upon the ef- service 
ficiency of these employees. The task of filling all these places 
is a large one. In Andrew Jackson’s administration (1829- 
1837) the “spoils system” was introduced, which means that 
government positions were treated by the victorious party as 
“ the spoils of victory,” to be given to members of the victorious 
party as rewards for party service without much regard to 
fitness for the work to be done. Whenever the administration 
passed from one party to another, the army of civil service 
employees was displaced by another of new employees. Not 
only did this result in inefficient service, but the time of the 
President and the heads of the departments was largely con¬ 
sumed in considering the claims of those seeking appointment. 

Moreover, since appointments could be made only “with the 
advice and consent” of the Senate, senators were besieged by 
applicants for positions and their friends. The President, 
overwhelmed by the multitude of appointments to be made, 
came to rely almost wholly upon the advice of the senators, 


458 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


and even of members of the House of Representatives, for ap¬ 
pointments in their states and districts. Thus, in effect, 
appointments were made by members of Congress rather than 
by the President who was really responsible. No system could 
have been devised more wasteful of the time of the executive 
and legislative branches of the government, or more conducive 
to inefficiency. 



The White House, South Front 


The spoils system became a great offense to the nation, but 
it was not until President Garfield was murdered by a dis- 
Reform of appointed office seeker that Congress, in 1883, 
the civil passed a law for the reform of the civil service, 
service Candidates for many positions in the civil service 

were required to pass an examination designed to prove their 
fitness for the work to be done, and a civil service commission 
was created to administer the law and to conduct the examina¬ 
tions, which are held at stated intervals in different parts of 
the country. Those appointed under this system cannot be 





OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


459 


removed except for cause. Even at the present time, however, 
only about half of the civil service is subject to this merit system. 

From the above description of the work of the several execu¬ 
tive departments select topics for special investigation and 
report; such as: 

The work of United States Consuls. 

Coining money; the United States Bureau of Engraving. 

The life-saving service of the United States. 

The United States Army in war and peace. 

The United States Army as an organization to save life, especially in its 
work of sanitation in territories occupied. 

Representatives of the United States Department of Justice in your com¬ 
munity, and examples of their work. 

Building a battleship. Training for the navy. 

Exploits of the navy in war. The work of the navy in time of peace. 

The work of the patent office; of the bureau of Indian affairs; of the 
geological survey; of the bureau of mines. 

Taking the United States census. 

The work of the bureau of fisheries. 

Marvels of the bureau of standards. 

The immigration bureau. 

Work of the children’s bureau. 

How an immigrant is naturalized. 

The Government Printing Office. 

The Congressional Library. 

The spoils system in Andrew Jackson’s administration. 

How would you go about it to take an examination for the civil service? 

Is there any reason why a mail carrier or a clerk in a government office 
should be a Republican or a Democrat? 

What employees of the United States civil service are there in your 
community ? 

Efficient government requires strong, clearly recognized 

leadership. Democratic government requires that 

i r Responsive 

its leadership shall be responsive to the needs of an ^ respon¬ 
se people and under their control. The problem sibie leader- 
of how to secure strong leadership and controlled 
leadership at one and the same time is a difficult one. So far 


460 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


as the executive branch of government alone is concerned, the 
framers of the Constitution secured strength by concentrating 
full responsibility in the President. But did they expect him 
to be their leader in the government as a whole; that is, in 
formulating the policies of government that should serve as the 
basis for legislation? We are in the habit of thinking of him 
as our national leader, but was he made so in fact ? 

In fact, the framers of the Constitution were apparently 
more concerned about maintaining control over the President 
Leadership of than about clearly making him the nation’s leader, 
the President About the only indication the Constitution contains 
that he was to be such a leader is the statement that he “shall 
from time to time give to the Congress information of the state 
of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such 
measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient” (Art. II, 
sec. 3). He does submit recommendations to Congress at the 
opening of each of its terms and often at other times. If the 
President and the majority in Congress are of the same political 
party, Congress is pretty likely to follow the President’s lead; 
or, if the President has a commanding personality and is clearly 
popular with the people, he may force measures through even 
an unwilling Congress. But if differences arise between the 
President and Congress, especially when one or both houses of 
Congress are of the opposite party from the President, his 
recommendations may be entirely ignored. By our system of 
“checks and balances” the President is “controlled,” but he 
ceases to be a leader when he does not have the “following” 
of Congress, or of the majority of the people. 

President Wilson began his second administration with a majority in 
both houses of Congress of his political party, and apparently in popular 
favor. He was clearly accepted as leader and practically all of his proposed 
measures were favorably acted upon by Congress. In the middle of this 
administration a congressional election occurred which resulted in a majority 
in both houses of the opposing party. This result might be considered as 
a popular vote against the leadership of the President, and his opponents 


OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


461 


did consider it so. It cannot be absolutely certain that this was intended, 
for the people were not voting directly on this question. Whether this was 
true or not, Congress refused to follow his leadership in many important 
questions, including the treaty of peace with Germany. 


It will be helpful to compare this situation with Contro j o{ 
the method by which England has worked out the leadership in 
problem of leadership and control of leadership. England 


The real executive head in the English government is the prime minister. 
The king appoints the prime minister, but he always chooses for the position 
the recognized leader of the political party that is in the majority in the House 
of Commons (which corresponds to our House of Representatives). 

The prime minister having been appointed, he then selects the other 
members of his cabinet, who are to be the heads of the executive depart¬ 
ments, and who are also members of parliament. 

The prime minister and the other members of the cabinet have seats 
in the House of Commons, contrary to the practice in our country. They 
also take the lead in legislation, for most of the important bills considered 
in the House of Commons are planned and introduced by the cabinet. So 
the executive and legislative branches of the English government are not 
separated as in our country. The same group of men manage the service 
organization and lead in planning the legislation that makes the service 
possible. 

It sometimes happens, however, that the cabinet introduces a measure 
which, after discussion, a majority of the House of Commons rejects. This 
means that on this question the cabinet no longer represents the majority 
in the House. Then one of two things happens. Either the cabinet resigns 
in a body to make way for a new cabinet that does represent the majority; 
or the prime minister asks for a general election for members of the House of 
Commons. If at this election a majority is again returned that is opposed to 
the cabinet, it means that the cabinet no longer leads the people, and it 
resigns. If a majority is returned in support of the cabinet, it means that 
the old House was no longer representative of the people, and the old 
cabinet retains its leadership. 

This system gives the English people more direct control over their govern¬ 
ment than we have in our country; it is very much like the method of recall 
that is used in some of our states (see p. 39 1 )- At tlie same time, it assures 
a real executive leadership within the government, a leadership that is both 
responsive and responsible to the people. 


462 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Not only does our Constitution fail to provide clearly for 
responsible leadership within the government, but our system of 
Growth of “ checks and balances,” our party system of govern- 
irresponsibie ment, and the organization and rules of Congress, 
leadership taken together, have tended to confuse our 

leadership, and to impose upon us an ^responsible leadership, 
outside of the government as outlined by the Constitution. To 



The Capitol at Washington 


understand this it will first be necessary to examine the organiza¬ 
tion of Congress. 

Congress, like the state legislatures, consists of two chambers, 
the House of Representatives and the Senate; this 

The Congress . . 

being another instance of “ checks and balances.” 


The creation of two chambers in the Congress made possible a satisfactory 
settlement of a dispute in the Constitutional Convention with regard to the 
basis of representation. The larger states wanted representation propor¬ 
tional to their population, while the smaller states insisted upon equal 






OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


463 


representation for all the states. It was settled that there should be equal 
representation in the Senate, and proportional representation in the House 
of Representatives. This is one of a series of compromises that had to 
be made between the two parties in the convention. In fact, the Constitu¬ 
tion is a series of compromises from beginning to end. Only thirty-nine of 
the fifty-five delegates in the convention signed the Constitution, and it is 
probable that no one even of the thirty-nine was wholly pleased with it. 

The number of representatives in the first Congress from 
each state was fixed in the Constitution, and provision made for a 
census in 1790 and every ten years thereafter, on The House of 
the basis of which a reapportionment should be Representa- 
made. At present there are 435 members of the tlves 
House, one for about every 243,000 of the population. They 
are elected by direct vote of the people, one from each of the 
congressional districts into which each state is divided, and for 
a term of two years. 

There are two senators from each state. The Constitution 
provided that they were to be elected by the state legislatures, 

another evidence of distrust of the people. In 

, . . -Tr* The Senate 

1913, the seventeenth amendment to the Con¬ 
stitution was enacted, providing for the election of senators 
by popular vote, showing the growing spirit of democracy and 
the distrust of the state legislatures (see p. 429). Senators 
are elected for six years, but the term of only one third of them 
expires at the same time, so that at least two thirds of the Senate 
have always had at least two years’ experience. No citizen 
may become a senator until he is thirty years of age, while one 
may become a member of the lower house at twenty-five. 

The House of Representatives has one important power not 
possessed by the Senate: it alone can originate bills for raising 
revenue. This is because the representatives were Exclusive 
supposed to be more directly representative of the powers of 
people than the senators. However, the Senate eachhouse 
may amend such bills, and often succeeds in forcing the House 
to accept such radical amendments as practically to destroy 


464 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


the advantage possessed by the latter in its power to originate 
the bills. 

In addition to its lawmaking powers, the Senate was intended 
to be an advisory council to the President. Only with its 
“advice and consent” may the President make appointments 
and treaties. 

Investigate and report on the following: 

The compromises of the Constitution. 

The census of 1920. 

The number of congressional districts in your state, and the number of 
the one you live in. 

The names of your representative and senators. 

The qualifications for election to the House of Representatives and to 
the Senate (Art. I, secs. 2 and 3). Compare with the qualifications for 
election to the two houses of your legislature. 

The characteristics of the Senate that make it more conservative than 
the House of Representatives. The meaning of “conservatism.” 

Why the Senate should be more conservative than the House. 

The “long” and “short” sessions of Congress. 

How vacancies in Congress are filled between elections. 

Legislation in which the representative from your district has been espe¬ 
cially interested during the last session of Congress. 

In England a member of the House of Commons is not required to be a 
resident of the district which he represents. Arguments for and against 
this plan. 

Debate the question: Resolved , that our Constitution should be amended 
to provide for a “responsible cabinet government” as in England. 

The presiding officer of the Senate is the Vice-President of the 
United States, while that of the House of Representatives is a 
Organization Speaker elected by the House. The Vice-President 
of Congress has no vote in the Senate except in case of a tie, 
when he may cast the deciding vote. The Speaker, on the other 
hand, has all the rights of any other member and has large 
powers by virtue of his position. He is always elected by 
a strictly party vote, and therefore represents the majority 
party in the House. 


OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 465 

As in the state legislatures, and for the same reason, most of 
the work of legislation in Congress is done by standing com¬ 
mittees, of which there are about sixty in the The com- 
House and about thirty-five in the Senate. As mittee system 
in the state legislatures, these committees are chosen on party 
lines, the chairmen and the majority of the members always 
being of the majority party. 

The procedure by which 
legislation is carried on in 
Congress is very much the 
same as that in the state 
legislatures (see p. 431), 
and has the same advan¬ 
tages and disadvantages. 

There is even greater ne¬ 
cessity for the committee 
organization and for rules 
because of the vastly 
greater number of bills in¬ 
troduced. In a recent 
Congress more than 33,000 
bills were introduced in 
the House of Representa¬ 
tives alone. Whereas in 
the state legislatures some 
of the rules of procedure are 
fixed by the state constitutions, the rules of Congress are deter¬ 
mined entirely by each house for itself. The committee on rules 
in each house, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and 
the chairmen of the committees in both houses, may run things 
as they see fit. That this is done there is plenty of evidence, 
such as the following words of a member of Congress: 

You send important questions to a committee, you put into the hands 
of a few men the power to bring in bills, and then they are brought in with an 





466 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


ironclad rule, and rammed down the throats of members; and then those 
measures are sent out as being the deliberate judgment of the Congress of 
the United States when no deliberate judgment has been expressed by any 
man. 


It is this procedure in Congress that causes leadership to be¬ 
come diffused, hidden, and often to pass outside of the govern- 
Diffused ment altogether into the hands of “bosses” and 

leadership special “interests.” There can be no well-con- 

in Congress ce i ve <d pi an worked out by responsible leaders and 
approved by Congress as a whole. There may be “plans,” 
worked out by leaders in Congress, but they are likely to be 
plans designed to serve party ends rather than to promote a 
well-thought-out program of national development. Thousands 
of bills of the greatest variety are introduced by individual 
members and handled by different committees acting inde¬ 
pendently of one another and often at cross purposes. 

The legislative and executive branches of government are 
each extremely jealous of any encroachment upon its powers 
by the other. It is not always easy to decide just 
where the dividing line lies between the powers 
properly exercised by each. It is maintained on 
the one hand that Congress is encroaching on the 
rightful domain of the executive; and at least it is 
true that while it denies the President responsible leadership 
in determining the policies of the government, it has failed to 
substitute any other responsible leadership, and has even made 
leadership obscure. On the other hand, it is maintained that 
the executive encroaches upon the powers of Congress. While 
this chapter was being written a member of the House of Repre¬ 
sentatives made a speech in which he said: 

This bill presents a fine specimen of bureaucratic legislation. 1 If the 
Congress ever intends, as it surely does, to regain the powers granted it by 

1 “ Bureaucratic legislation ” here means lawmaking by bureaus in the execu¬ 
tive branch of the government. 


Relation be¬ 
tween execu¬ 
tive and 
legislative 
branches 


OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


467 


the fathers, of which it is now temporarily deprived by bureaucratic encroach¬ 
ment, now is the time to start upon such a campaign by defeating by a deci¬ 
sive majority the bill now offered for your consideration. . . . Every time 
you weaken Congress by the establishment of a bureau in which the authority 
of Congress is lessened, you lay one more stone in the erection of the temple 
of autocracy. . . . These bureaus are not only legislating by administra¬ 
tive processes but are usurping the power and prerogatives of the people’s 
courts. . . . 



A Corner in One Room of the United States Census Bureau 
Compiling vital statistics. 


It is the business of the people’s representatives in the law¬ 
making branch of government not merely to make laws, but 
also to watch and control the executive. The The duty of 
great English philosopher, John Stuart Mill ^Stchtte* 0 
(1806-1873), thus stated the purpose of the English executive 
House of Commons: 

To watch and control the government; 1 to throw the light of publicity 
on its acts; to compel a full explanation and justification of all of them which 
any one considers questionable; to censure them if found condemnable; 
to be at once the nation’s committee on grievances; an arena in which not 
only the opinion of the nation, but that of every section of it, and as far as 

1 “Government” here refers to the executive branch. 












4 68 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


possible, of every eminent individual that it contains, can produce itself 
in full sight and challenge full discussion. 


As we have seen, the English House of Commons has a way to 
control executive leadership without destroying it. Even if 
we desired to do so, we could not adopt the English plan without 
changing our Constitution. But there are ways in which the 
same result could in a measure be accomplished without such 
change. One of these is by a well-organized budget system (see 
p. 436). 

The methods of making appropriations for the purposes of 
our national government have been as unbusinesslike as in the 
Responsibility states - Charges of extravagance and inefficiency 
for appropria- have been made freely, the blame being placed 
tlons sometimes upon Congress and sometimes upon the 

executive departments. Both are at fault; and the difficulty 
is that it is almost impossible to fix the responsibility anywhere, 
Although the national government, unlike the states, has a 
single-headed executive, the executive departments are com¬ 
posed of a multitude of bureaus and other subdi- 
and confusion visions that are not well organized in their relations 
in the execu- to one another. There is overlapping, duplication, 
and even conflict of work. The director of finance 
of the War Department said that in the recent war, 


The War Department entered this war without any fixed or carefully di¬ 
gested and prepared financial system. There were at the beginning of the 
war five . . . bureaus each independent of the others, each making its 
own contracts, doing its own purchasing, doing its own accounting, with 
as many different methods as there were bureaus. As a result they were 
competing with each other in a market where the supplies in many cases 
for which they were competing were restricted in amount. . . . There was 
no central authority to prune, revise, or compare estimates submitted and 
to coordinate expenditures, and that naturally resulted in overlappings and 
duplications, and some of them of a large amount. 1 


1 Testimony before Budget Committee, quoted by Will Payne, “ Your Budget,” 
Saturday Evening Post, Jan. 3, 1920, p. 32. 


OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


469 


The responsibility is partly in the executive department; 
but it is partly in Congress, for it creates bureaus, defines their 
duties, appropriates money for them. And in Congress the 
responsibility is divided among various committees that are 
not well coordinated. 

Recently Congress made a survey of the departments of the 
executive branch of government, with a view to securing greater 
efficiency in administration. The government has a Bureau of 
Efficiency a part of whose duties is to study duplication of work 
in the various branches of government service. 

Probably the most important step taken in many years in 
the direction of establishing a real leadership in our national 
government and making possible a more effective A national 
control over it, is the enactment by Congress, in budget 
1921, of a law providing for a national budget system. system 
This Act requires the President to submit annually to Congress 
a budget, in which shall be set forth in detail: 

1. The condition of the Treasury at the end of the last fiscal year, the 
estimated condition of the Treasury at the end of the year in progress, and 
the estimated condition of the Treasury at the end of the next year in case 
the proposals of the budget are adopted; 

2. The revenues and expenditures of the government during the last fiscal 
year, and the estimated revenues and expenditures during the current year; 

3. The provisions which, in his opinion, should be made to meet the 
governmental needs during the year to come; 

4. Other necessary or helpful financial statements and data for the in¬ 
formation of Congress. 

“As former President Taft once expressed it, the formulation and sub¬ 
mission of the budget will be the supreme act of the President as the head 
of the government. ... For the first time . . . the President will be under 
the obligation of meeting the primary duty of a general manager of sub¬ 
mitting to his board of directors [Congress] a full and complete report of 
how he and his subordinates have conducted operations in the past and 
what, in his opinion, should be the financial and work program of the govern¬ 
ment in the future.” 1 

1 W. F. Willoughby, “National Budget System,” in The Weekly Review, June 
18, 1921. 


47 ° 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


In order that the President may fulfil his obligation as im¬ 
posed by the law, the Budget Act creates a Bureau of the Budget , 
the head of which is directly responsible to the President, and 
the duty of which is to take the estimates submitted by the 
heads of the several executive departments, to analyze and 
revise them, and from them to compile a single, unified estimate 
for the entire government establishment. Heretofore, each 
department has made its own estimate, naturally seeking to 
get as large an appropriation as possible, and has then submitted 
it to the Secretary of the Treasury, who passed it on to Congress 
just as it came to him, along with the estimates of all the other 
departments. Congress then began, through its various com¬ 
mittees, an attempt to legislate to meet the needs of the gov¬ 
ernment. 

The new Bureau of the Budget, with its expert staff, now 
does all the preliminary work of investigation and is at the 
call of Congress to furnish it, as well as the President, with all 
necessary information. The Budget Bureau also has the duty 
of studying all departments of the executive branch of the 
government to discover where reorganization will make them 
more efficient. 

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives has amended its 
rules so that hereafter all appropriations to meet the budget 
F . . needs will be made by a single appropriations 

responsibility committee. Thus while the responsibility for 
t’ons PPr ° Pria " makin & tke budget is fixed definitely with the 
President, the responsibility for meeting budget 
requirements is fixed equally definitely with this one committee 
in the House of Representatives. 

A budget system, however good it may be, like all other govern¬ 
mental machinery, is merely an organization for team work, and 
Responsibility will do very little good unless the team work is forth- 
of the citizen coming, no t only among the various branches and 
departments of government, but also on the part of the citizens. 


OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


471 


If there is a real budget it has got to be your budget. It will be good, 
bad or indifferent finally just in proportion to your interest in it and your 
expression of that interest at the polls and elsewhere. ... If there is a good 
budget system — not on paper, but in actual practice — you’ve got to make 
it. If, when a budget bill is finally enacted . . . you say, “Well, that job 
is done,” and dismiss it from your mind there will be no lasting gain. . . 4 

Effective control over government can be exercised only by 
public opinion and public interest. We may have any kind of 
government we want, if we only want it badly enough, and only 





The Bureau of Printing and Engraving 
Where United States currency and postage stamps are engraved. 

when we want it badly enough. The blame for inefficiency 
and wastefulness on the part of government at Washington, 
or at the state capital, or at the county seat, rests largely with 
the people back home, who are either selfish or blind to the fact 
that the interests of the nation are larger than their own or 
those of their own little community. The very people who talk 
most loudly about the extravagance of government, or about 
the burden of taxes, are likely to be the ones who expect most 
from their congressmen for purely personal or local advantage. 
They are likely to judge their representative’s fitness for his 
1 Will Payne, “Your Budget,” Saturday Evening Post, January 3, 1920, p. 30. 




472 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


position more by his ability to get funds from the public treasury 
for local gratification than by his attitude toward great national 
questions. 

Investigate and report on the following: 

The present Speaker of the House of Representatives, and some of the 
more important members. 

Leaders in the Senate at the present time. 

A list of some of the more important committees in each House of Con¬ 
gress. 

The procedure by which a bill becomes a law, from the time when it is 
introduced to the time it goes into effect as a law of the land. 

Bills introduced in Congress by the representative from your district. 
The purposes of these bills. (Consult at home, at your public library, at 
your newspaper office.) 

Follow the course of debate on some measure in the House of Representa¬ 
tives or the Senate in the files of the Congressional Record (files may be found 
at your public library, or at the newspaper offices, if not in your school). 

Conflict of opinion regarding the powers of the President and of the Sen¬ 
ate in connection with the discussion of the treaty of peace with Germany. 

“Filibustering” in Congress. 

Clause 2 of section 6 of Article I of the Constitution says, “No person 
holding any office under the United States shall be a member of either House 
during his continuance in office.” Why is’this? 

The privileges of members of Congress under clause i of section 6 of 
Article I of the Constitution. Reasons for these privileges. 

“Log-rolling” in Congress, what it is and why so called. 

The details of the budget system of the national government. 

Any change in the rules of Congress relating to appropriations. 

The desirability of introducing in our government a plan similar to that 
used by the House of Commons and described on page 470. 

The judicial power of the United States government is vested 
by the Constitution “in one Supreme Court, and in such inferior 
The national courts as the Congress may from time to time 
judiciary ordain and establish” (Art. Ill, sec. 1). The 

number of judges in the Supreme Court is determined by 
Congress, and they are appointed by the President with the 


OUR NATIONAL GOVERNMENT 


473 


advice and consent of the Senate. At present the Supreme 
Court consists of a chief justice and eight associate justices. 
Its sessions are held in the Capitol building at Washington. 
Congress has created circuit courts of appeals , of which there are 
now nine, each “circuit” including several states; and district 
courts , of which there is at least one in every state, and some¬ 
times several. In addition to these there is a court of customs 
appeals and a court of claims , for special classes of cases. The 
courts of the District of Columbia are also United States courts, 
inasmuch as the District is governed entirely by the national 
government. The judges of all United States courts are ap¬ 
pointed by the President and hold office for life. 

The powers of the federal courts are stated in Article III, sec¬ 
tion 2, of the Constitution. In general, they have jurisdiction 
over cases of a national or interstate character. Powers of the 
Most cases that come in the first instance before the federal courts 
federal courts are tried in the United States district courts, 
going to the higher courts only on appeal; but there are certain 
classes of cases that go to the Supreme Court at once (Art. Ill, 
sec. 2, cl. 2). A case brought to trial before a state court may 
be appealed to the Supreme Court of the United States when the 
Constitution, the laws, or the treaties of the United States 
are involved, and its decision is final. The Supreme Court may 
declare a law passed by Congress or an act of the President 
null and void if, in its opinion, such law or act is contrary to the 
provisions of the Constitution. It has been questioned whether 
the framers of the Constitution intended the Supreme Court 
to have this power, but it exercises the power on the ground that 
the Constitution is the supreme law of the land to which even 
Congress and the President are subject, and that it is the sacred 
duty of the courts to preserve it from violation. We have 
noted on page 452 the influence exercised by the Supreme Court 
in extending the activities of the United States government by 
its broad interpretations of the Constitution. 


474 


COMMUNITY CIVICS 


Study the powers of the federal courts in Article III, sections i and 2. 
What is treason? (Art. Ill, sec. 3, cl. 1.) 

What is meant by the second clause in section 3 of Article III ? 

READINGS 

Guerrier, Edith, The Federal Executive Departments, Bulletin, 1919, No. 74, 
U. S. Bureau of Education. 

Swanton, W. I., Guide to United States Government Publications, Bulletin, 1918, 
No. 2, U. S. Bureau of Education. 

In Lessons in Community and National Life: 

Series A: Lesson 12, History of the federal departments. 

Lesson 18, Local and national governments. 

Series B : Lesson 13, The Department of the Interior. 

Lesson 14, The United States Public Health Service. 

Lesson 21, National standards and the Bureau of Standards. 

In Foerster and Pierson’s American Ideals: 

The nature of the Union (Daniel Webster), pp. 17-26. 

The nature of the Union (John C. Calhoun), pp. 27-44. 

Jefferson’s First Inaugural Address, pp. 59-64. 

The frame of the national government (Bryce), pp. 285-300. 

Criticism of the federal system (Bryce), pp. 301-311. 

Merits of the federal system (Bryce), pp. 312-321. 

Beard, C. A., American Government and Politics, Part ii, especially chaps, xi and xiv. 
Hart, A. B., Actual Government, Part v, The National Government in Action. 

Bryce, James, The American Commonwealth, vol. I, Part i. 

Wilson, Woodrow, Congressional Government (Houghton Mifflin Co.). 

Haskin, F. J., The American Government (Lippincott). 

Young, The New American Government (Macmillan). 


APPENDIX 


THE CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 
Preamble 

We, the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect 
union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquillity, provide for the com¬ 
mon defence, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty 
to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution 
for the United States of America. 

ARTICLE I. The Legislative Department 
Section I. Congress in General 

All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the 
United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representa¬ 
tives. 

Section II. House of Representatives 

1 st Clause. The House of Representatives shall be composed of members 
chosen every second year by the people of the several States, and the elec¬ 
tors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for electors of the 
most numerous branch of the State legislature. 

2 d Clause. No person shall be a representative who shall not have 
attained to the age of twenty-five years, and been seven years a citizen 
of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of 
that State in which he shall be chosen. 

3 d Clause. Representatives and direct taxes shall be apportioned among 
the several States which may be included within this Union, according to 
their respective numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole 
number of free persons, including those bound to service for a term of years, 
and, excluding Indians not taxed, three-fifths of all other persons. The 
actual enumeration shall be made within three years after the first meeting 
of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent term of 
ten years, in such manner as they shall by law direct. The number of rep- 

475 


476 


APPENDIX 


resentatives shall not exceed one for every thirty thousand, but each State 
shall have at least one representative; and until such enumeration shall be 
made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massa¬ 
chusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut 
five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, 
Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and 
Georgia three. 

4 th Clause. When vacancies happen in the representation from any State, 
the executive authority thereof shall issue writs of election to fill such vacan¬ 
cies. 

5 th Clause. The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and 
other officers; and shall have the sole power of impeachment. 

Section III. The Senate. 

1 st Clause. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of fwo 
senators from each State, shosen by the legislature thereof, for six years; 
and each senator shall have one vote. 

2 d Clause. Immediately after they shall be assembled in consequence of 
the first election, they shall be divided as equally as may be into three 
classes. The seats of the senators of the first class shall be vacated at the 
expiration of the second year, of the second class at the expiration of the 
fourth year, and of the third class at the expiration of the sixth year, so 
that one-third may be chosen every second year; and if vacancies happen 
by resignation, or otherwise, during the recess of the legislature of any 
State, the executive thereof may make temporary appointments until the 
next meeting of the legislature, which shall then fill such vacancies. 

3 d Clause. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained to 
the age of thirty years, and been nine years a citizen of the United States, 
and who shall not, when elected, be an inhabitant of that State for which 
he shall be chosen. 

4 th Clause. The Vice-President of the United States shall be President 
of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided. 

5 th Clause. The Senate shall choose their other officers, and also a Presi¬ 
dent pro tempore , in the absence of the Vice-President, or when he shall 
exercise the office of President of the United States. 

6 th Clause. The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. 
When sitting for that purpose, they shall all be on oath or affirmation. 
When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall 
preside; and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two- 
thirds of the members present. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 477 


7 th Clause. Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further 
than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any 
office of honor, trust, or profit under the United States; but the party con¬ 
victed shall nevertheless be liab’e and subject to indictment, trial, judgment* 
and punishment, according to law. 

Section IV. Both Houses. 

1 st Clause. The times, places, and manner of holding elections for sen¬ 
ators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the legis¬ 
lature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by law make or alter such 
regulations, except as to the places of choosing senators. 

2 d Clause. The Congress shall assemble at least once in every year, and 
such meeting shall be on the first Monday in December, unless they shall 
by law appoint a different day. 

Section V. The Houses Separately. 

1 st Clause. Each house shall be the judge of the elections, returns, and 
qualifications of its own members, and a majority of each shall constitute 
a quorum to do business; but a smaller number may adjourn from day to 
day, and may be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members, 
in such manner and under such penalties as each house may provide. 

2 d Clause. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish 
its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two- 
thirds, expel a member. 

Sd Clause. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and from 
time to time publish the same, excepting such parts as may in their judg¬ 
ment require secrecy; and the yeas and nays of the members of either house 
on any question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of those present, be entered 
on the journal. 

Jfth Clause. Neither house, during the session of Congress, shall, without 
the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days, nor to any other 
place than that in which the two houses shall be sitting. 

Section VI. Privileges and Disabilities of Members. 

1 st Clause. The senators and representatives shall receive a compen¬ 
sation for their services, to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the treas¬ 
ury of the United States. They shall, in all cases except treason, felony 
and breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during their attendance 
at the session of their respective houses, and in going to and returning from 


478 


APPENDIX 


the same; and for any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be 
questioned in any other place. 

2 d Clause. No senator or representative shall, during the time for which 
he was elected, be appointed to any civil office under the authority of the 
United States, which shall have been created, or the emoluments whereof 
shall have been increased during such time; and no person holding any 
office under the United States shall be a member of either house during his 
continuance in office. 

Section VII. Mode of passing Laws. 

1 st Clause. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House of 
Representatives; but the Senate may propose or concur with amendments 
as on other bills. 

2 d Clause. Every bill which shall have passed the House of Representa¬ 
tives and the Senate shall, before it become a law, be presented to the 
President of the United States; if he approve he shall sign it, but if not he 
shall return it, with his objections, to that house in which it shall have 
originated, who shall enter the objections at large on their journal, and 
proceed to reconsider it. If after such reconsideration two-thirds of that 
house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with the objec¬ 
tions, to the other house, by which it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if 
approved by two-thirds of that house, it shall become a law. But in all 
such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, 
and the names of the persons voting for and against the bill shall be entered 
on the journal of each house respectively. If any bill shall not be returned 
by the President within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have 
been presented to him, the same shall be a law, in like manner as if he had 
signed it, unless the Congress by their adjournment prevent its return, in 
which case it shall not be a law. 

Sd Clause. Every order, resolution, or vote to which the concurrence 
of the Senate and House of Representatives may be necessary (except on a 
question of adjournment) shall be presented to the President of the United 
States; and before the same shall take effect, shall be approved by him, or 
being disapproved by him, shall be repassed by two-thirds of the Senate 
and House of Representatives, according to the rules and limitations pre¬ 
scribed in the case of a bill. 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 479 


Section VIII. Powers granted to Congress. 

The Congress shall have power— 

1 st Clause. To lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to 
pay the debts, and provide for the common defence and general welfare of 
the United States; but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform 
throughout the United States; 

2 d Clause. To borrow money on the credit of the United States; 

Sd Clause. To regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the 
several States, and with the Indian tribes; 

4 ih Clause. To establish a uniform rule of naturalization, and uniform 
laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States; 

5 th Clause. To coin money, regulate the value thereof, and of foreign 
coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures; 

6 th Clause. To provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities 
and current coin of the United States; 

7 th Clause. To establish post-offices and post-roads; 

8 th Clause. To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by secur¬ 
ing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their 
respective writings and discoveries; 

9 th Clause. To constitute tribunals inferior to the Supreme Court; 

10 th Clause. To define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the 
high seas, and offences against the law of nations; 

11 th Clause. To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and 
make rules concerning captures on land and w T ater; 

12 th Clause. To raise and support armies; but no appropriation of money 
to that use shall be for a longer term than two years; 

13 th Clause. To provide and maintain a navy; 

I^th Clause. To make rules for the government and regulation of the 
land and naval forces; 

15 th Clause. To provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws 
of the Union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions; 

16 th Clause. To provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the 
militia, and for governing such part of them as may be employed in the 
service of the United States, reserving to the States respectively the 
appointment of the officers, and the authority of training the militia accord¬ 
ing to the discipline prescribed by Congress; 

17 th Clause. To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, 
over such district (not exceeding ten miles square) as may, by cession of 
particular States, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the 
Government of the United States; and to exercise like authority over all 


480 


APPENDIX 


places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the State in which the 
same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock-yards, 
and other needful buildings;—and 

18th Clause. To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for 
carrying into execution the foregoing powers, and all other powers vested 
by this Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any 
department or officer thereof. 

Section IX. Powers denied to the United States. 

1st Clause. The migration or importation of such persons as any of the 
States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by 
the Congress prior to the year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a 
tax or duty may be imposed on such importation, not exceeding ten dollars 
for each person. 

2d Clause. The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be sus¬ 
pended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may 
require it. 

8d Clause. No bill of attainder or ex post facto law shall be passed. 

4-th Clause. No capitation, or other direct tax shall be laid, unless in pro¬ 
portion to the census or enumeration hereinbefore directed to be taken. 

5th Clause. No tax or duty shall be laid on articles exported from any 
State. 

6th Clause. No preference shall be given by any regulation of commerce 
or revenue to the ports of one State over those of another; nor shall vessels 
bound to, or from, one State, be obliged to enter, clear, or pay duties in 
another. 

7th Clause. No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in conse¬ 
quence of appropriations made by law; and a regular statement and account 
of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall be published from 
time to time. 

8th Clause. No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States; 
and no person holding any office of profit or trust under them shall, with¬ 
out the consent of Congress, accept of any present, emolument, office, or 
title, of any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or foreign State. 

Section X. Powers denied to the States. 

1st Clause. No State shall enter into any treaty, alliance, or confedera¬ 
tion; grant letters of marque and reprisal; coin money; emit bills of credit; 
make anything but gold and silver coin a tender in payment of debts; pass 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 481 


any bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligation of con- 
tracts, or grant any title of nobility. 

2d Clause. No State shall, without the consent of the Congress, lay any 
imposts or duties on imports or exports, except what may be absolutely 
necessary for executing its inspection laws; and the net produce of all duties 
and imposts, laid by any State on imports or exports, shall be for the use 
of the treasury of the United States; and all such laws shall be subject to the 
revision and control of the Congress. 

Sd Clause. No State shall, without the consent of Congress, lay any duty 
of tonnage, keep troops, or ships of war in time of peace, enter into any 
agreement or compact with another State or with a foreign power, or engage 
in war, unless actually invaded, or in such imminent danger as will not 
admit of delay, 

ARTICLE II. The Executive Department. 

Section I. President and Vice-President. 

1st Clause. The executive power shall be vested in a President of the 
United States of America. He shall hold his office during the term of four 
years, and, together with the Vice-President, chosen for the same term, be 
elected as follows: 

2d Clause. Each State shall appoint, in such manner as the legislature 
thereof may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole number of sen¬ 
ators and representatives to which the State may be entitled in the Congress. 
But no senator or representative, or person holding an office of trust or 
profit under the United States, shall be appointed an elector. 

[The 3d clause has been superseded by the 12th article of Amendments. 
See page xix.] 

Jfth Clause. The Congress may determine the time of choosing the elec¬ 
tors, and the day on which they shall give their votes, which day shall be 
the same throughout the United States. 

5th Clause. No person except a natural-born citizen, or a citizen of the 
United States at the time of the adoption of this Constitution, shall be 
eligible to the office of President; neither shall any person be eligible to 
that office who shall not have attained to the age of thirty-five years, and 
been fourteen years a resident within the United States. 

6th Clause. In case of the removal of the President from office, or of his 
death, resignation, or inability to discharge the powers and duties of the 
said office, the same shall devolve on the Vice-President; and the Congress 
may by law provide for the case of removal, death, resignation, or inability, 


482 


APPENDIX 


both of the President and Vice-President, declaring what officer shall then 
act as President, and such officer shall act accordingly, until the disability 
be removed, or a President shall be elected. 

7th Clause. The President shall, at stated times, receive for his services 
a compensation, which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the 
period for which he shall have been elected, and he shall not receive within 
that period any other emolument from the United States, or any of them. 

8th Clause. Before he enter on the execution of his office, he shall take 
the following oath or affirmation:— 

“ I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office 
of President of the United States, and will, to the best of my ability, pre¬ 
serve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States.” 

Section II. Powers of the President. 

1st Clause. The President shall be commander-in-chief of the army and 
navy of the United States, and of the militia of the several States, when 
called into the actual service of the United States; he may require the opin¬ 
ion, in writing, of the principal officer in each of the executive departments, 
upon any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices, and he 
shall have power to grant reprieves and pardons for offences against the 
United States, except in cases of impeachment. 

2d Clause. He shall have power, by and with the advice and consent of 
the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators present 
concur; and he shall nominate, and by and with the advice and consent of 
the Senate, shall appoint, ambassadors, other public ministers and con¬ 
suls, judges of the Supreme Court, and all other officers of the United States, 
whose appointments are not herein otherwise provided for, and which shall 
be established by law; but the Congress may by law vest the appointment 
of such inferior officers, as they think proper, in the President alone, in the 
courts of law, or in the heads of departments. 

8d Clause. The President shall have power to fill up all vacancies that 
may happen during the recess of the Senate, by granting commissions, 
which shall expire at the end of their next session. 

Section III. Duties of the President. 

He shall from time to time give to the Congress information of the state 
of the Union, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he 
shall judge necessary and expedient; he may, on extraordinary occasions 
convene both houses, or either of them, and in case of disagreement be¬ 
tween them with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 483 


to such time as he shall think proper; he shall receive ambassadors and other 
public ministers; he shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed, and 
shall commission all the officers of the United States. 

Section IV. Impeachment of the President. 

The President, Vice-President, and all civil officers of the United States, 
shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason) 
bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. 

ARTICLE III. The Judicial Department. 

Section I. The United States Courts. 

The judicial power of the United States shall be vested in one Supreme 
Court, and in such inferior courts as the Congress may from time to time 
ordain and establish. The judges, both of the Supreme and inferior courts, 
shall hold their offices during good behavior, and shall, at stated times, 
receive for their services a compensation, which shall not be diminished 
during their continuance in office. 

Section II. Jurisdiction of the United States Courts. 

1st Clause. The judicial power shall extend to all cases, in law and equity 
arising under this Constitution, the laws of the United States, and treaties 
made, or which shall be made, under their authority; to all cases affecting 
ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls; to all cases of admiralty 
and maritime jurisdiction; to controversies to which the United States shall 
be a party; to controversies between two or more States; between a State 
and citizens of another State; between citizens of different States; between 
citizens of the same State claiming lands under grants of different States, 
and between a State, or the citizens thereof, and foreign states, citizens, or 
subjects. 

2d Clause. In all cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers and 
consuls, and those in which a State shall be a party, the Supreme Court 
shall have original jurisdiction. In all the other cases before mentioned, 
the Supreme Court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both as to law and fact, 
with such exceptions and under such regulations as the Congress shall make. 

Sd Clause. The trial of all crimes, except in cases of impeachment, shall 
be by jury; and such trial shall be held in the State where the said crimes 
shall have been committed; but when not committed within any State, 
the trial shall be at such place or places as the Congress may by law have 
directed. 



484 


APPENDIX 


Section III. Treason. 

1st Clause. Treason against the United States shall consist only in levying 
war against them, or in adhering to their enemies, giving them aid and com¬ 
fort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on the testimony of 
two witnesses to the same overt act, or on confession in open court. 

2d Clause. The Congress shall have power to declare the punishment of 
treason, but no attainder of treason shall work corruption of blood, or for¬ 
feiture except during the life of the person attainted. 

ARTICLE IV. Miscellaneous Provisions. 

Section I. State Records. 

Full faith and credit shall be given in each State to the public acts, 
records, and judicial proceedings of every other State. And the Congress 
may by general laws prescribe the manner in which such acts, records, and 
proceedings shall be proved, and the effect thereof. 

Section II. Privileges of Citizens. 

1st Clause. The citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges 
and immunities of citizens in the several States. 

2d Clause. A person charged in any State with treason, felony, or other 
crime, who shall flee from justice, and be found in another State, shall, on 
demand of the executive authority of the State from which he fled, be 
delivered up, to be removed to the State having jurisdiction of the crime. 

3d Clause. No person held to service or labor in one State, under the 
laws thereof, escaping into another, shall, in consequence of any law or 
regulation therein, be discharged from such service or labor, but shall be 
delivered up on claim of the party to whom such service or labor may be due. 

Section III. New States and Territories. 

1st Clause. New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; 
but no new State shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any 
other State; nor any State be formed by the junction of two or more States 
or parts of States, without the consent of the legislatures of the States 
concerned as well as of the Congress. 

2d Clause. The Congress shall have power to dispose of and make all 
needful rules and regulations respecting the territory or other property 
belonging to the United States; and nothing in this Constitution shall be 
eo construed as to prejudice any claims of the United States or of any partic¬ 
ular State. 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 485 


Section IV. Guarantees to the States. 

The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a repub¬ 
lican form of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion; 
and on application of the legislature, or of the executive (when the legis¬ 
lature cannot be convened), against domestic violence. 

ARTICLE V. Powers of Amendment. 

The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, 
shall propose amendments to this Constitution, or, on the application of 
the legislatures of two-thirds of the several States, shall call a convention 
for proposing amendments, which, in either case, shall be valid, to all intents 
and purposes, as part of this Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures 
of three-fourths of the several States, or by conventions in three-fourths 
thereof, as the one or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the 
Congress: provided that no amendment which may be made prior to the 
year one thousand eight hundred and eight shall in any manner affect the 
first and fourth clauses in the ninth section of the first article; and that no 
State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the 
Senate. 

ARTICLE VI. Public Debt, Supremacy of the Constitution, Oath 
of Office, Religious Test. 

1st Clause. All debts contracted and engagements entered into before the 
adoption of this Constitution, shall be as valid against the United States 
under this Constitution, as under the Confederation. 

2d Clause. This Constitution, and the laws of the United States which 
shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made, or which shall be 
made, under the authority of the United States, shall be the supreme law 
of the land; and the judges in every State shall be bound thereby, anything 
in the Constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding. 

3d Clause. The senators and representatives before mentioned, and the 
members of the several State legislatures, and all executive and judicial 
officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound 
by oath or affirmation to support this Constitution; but no religious test 
shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under 
the United States. 


486 


APPENDIX 


ARTICLE VII. Ratification of the Constitution. 

The ratification of the conventions of nine States shall be sufficient for 
the establishment of this Constitution between tne States so ratifying the 
same. 

AMENDMENTS 

Proposed by congress and ratified by the legislatures of the several 

STATES, PURSUANT TO THE FIFTH ARTICLE OF THE ORIGINAL CONSTITUTION. 

Article I. Freedom of Religion. 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or 
prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech or 
of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition 
the government for a redress of grievances. 

Article II. Right to hear Arms. 

A well-regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, 
the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. 

Article III. Quartering Soldiers on Citizens. 

No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the 
consent of the owner, nor in time of war but in a manner to be prescribed 
by law. 

Article IV. Search Warrants. 

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, 
and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be vio¬ 
lated, and no warrants shall issue but upon probable cause, supported by 
oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, 
and the persons or things to be seized. 

Article V. Trial for Crime. 

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous 
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases 
arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service 
in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the 
same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be com¬ 
pelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived 
of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; nor shall private 
property be taken for public use without just compensation. 



CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 487 


Article VI. Rights of Accused Persons. 

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy 
and public trial by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the 
crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously 
ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accu¬ 
sation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compul¬ 
sory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance 
of counsel for his defence. 

Article VII. Suits at Common Law. 

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed 
twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact 
tried by a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any court of the United 
States than according to the rules of the common law. 

Article VIII. Excessive Bail. 

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor 
cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 

Article IX. Rights Retained by the People. 

The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be con¬ 
strued to deny or disparage others retained by the people. 

Article X. Reserved Rights of the States. 

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor 
prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to 
the people. 

Article XI. 

The judicial power of the United States shall not be construed to extend 
to any suit, in law or equity, commenced or prosecuted against one of the 
United States by citizens of another State, or by citizens or subjects of 
any foreign state. 

Article XII. 

1st Clause. The electors shall meet in their respective States, and vote 
by ballot for President and Vice-President, one of whom, at least, shall not 
be an inhabitant of the same State with themselves; they shall name in their 
ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person 
voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons 


488 


APPENDIX 


voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and 
of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify, and 
transmit sealed to the seat of the government of the United States, directed 
to the President of the Senate; the President of the Senate shall, in presence 
of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the certificates, and 
the votes shall then be counted; the person having the greatest number of 
votes for President shall be the President, if such number be a majority of 
the whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have such major¬ 
ity, then from the persons having the highest numbers, not exceeding three 
on the list of those voted for as President, the House of Representatives 
shall choose immediately, by ballot, the President. But in choosing the 
President, the votes shall be taken by States, the representation from each 
State having one vote; a quorum for this purpose shall consist of a member 
or members from two-thirds of the States, and a majority of all the States 
shall be necessary to a choice. And if the House of Representatives shall 
not choose a President whenever the right of choice shall devolve upon 
them, before the fourth day of March next following, then the Vice-Presi¬ 
dent shall act as President, as in the case of the death or other consti¬ 
tutional disability of the President. 

2d Clause. The person having the greatest number of votes as Vice- 
President shall be the Vice-President, if such number be a majority of the 
whole number of electors appointed; and if no person have a majority, then 
from the two highest numbers on the list the Senate shall choose the Vice- 
President ; a quorum for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of the whole 
number of senators, and a majority of the whole number shall be necessary 
to a choice. 

3d Clause. But no person constitutionally ineligible to the office of Presi¬ 
dent shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States. 

Article XIII. 

Section I. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punish¬ 
ment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall 
exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction. 

Sec. II. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate 
legislation. 

Article XIV. * 

Section I. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and 
subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of 
the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law 
which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United 


CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES 489 


States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, 
without due process of law, nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the 
equal protection of the laws. 

Sec. II. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States 
according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of per¬ 
sons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to 
vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-Presi¬ 
dent of the United States, representatives in Congress, the executive and 
judicial officers of a State, or the members of the legislature thereof, is 
denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one 
years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, 
except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the basis of representa¬ 
tion therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such 
male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one 
years of age in such State. 

Sec. III. No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress, or 
elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, 
under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken 
an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or 
as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer 
of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have 
engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or com¬ 
fort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds 
of each house, remove such disability. 

Sec. IV. The validity of the public debt of the United States, author¬ 
ized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties 
for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. 
But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt 
or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United 
States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such 
debts, obligations, and claims shall be held illegal and void. 

Sec. V. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legis¬ 
lation, the provisions of this article. 

Article XV. 

Section I. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not 
be denied or abridged by the United States, or by any State, on account of 
race, color, or previous condition of servitude. 

Sec. II. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro¬ 
priate legislation. 


490 


APPENDIX 


Article XVI. 

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, 
from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several 
States, and without regard to any census or enumeration. 

Article XVII. 

Section I. The Senate of the United States shall be composed of two 
Senators from each State, elected by the people thereof, for six years; 
and each Senator shall have one vote. The electors in each State shall 
have the qualifications requisite for electors of the most numerous branch 
of the State Legislatures. 

Sec. II. When vacancies happen in the representation of any State 
in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of 
election to fill such vacancies: Provided that the Legislature of any State 
may empower the executive thereof to make temporary appointments 
until the people fill the vacancies by election as the Legislature may direct. 

Sec. III. This amendment shall not be so construed as to affect the 
election or term of any Senator chosen before it becomes valid as part of 
the Constitution. 


Article XVIII. 

Section I. After one year from the ratification of this article, the 
manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors within, the 
importation thereof into, or the exportation thereof from, the United 
States and all territory subject to the jurisdiction thereof, for beverage 
purposes, is hereby prohibited. 

Sec. II. The Congress and the several States shall have concurrent 
power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation. 

Sec. III. This article shall be inoperative unless it shall have been 
ratified as an amendment to the Constitution by the legislatures of the 
several States, as provided in the Constitution, within seven years from 
the date of the submission thereof to the States by the Congress. 


Article XIX. 

Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not 
be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account 
of sex. 

Sect. 2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by 
appropriate legislation. 


INDEX 


Abstract of title, 194 
Accidents, 274; industrial, 356, 357 
Accounts, 152,174, 176, 367; county, 
410, 414, 415; state, 435 
Administration, 387 
Administrative departments, 436, 
454-457; offices, 423-427 
Advertisements, 276 
^Esthetic wants, 340-345 
Africa, 153 
Africans, 273 
Agent, county, 31, 3 2 
Agricultural college, 34, 63, 143, 401; 

production of U. S., 210, 211 
Agricultural Economics, Bureau of, 

151 

Agriculture, 18, 80, 141-164; a 

national enterprise, 146; of the 
Indians, 191; secretary of, 211; 
state departments of, 142-144; 
U. S. Department of, 24, 30, 31, 35, 
144, 146-164, 177, 179, 213, 221, 
231, 233, 248, 257, 262, 316, 322, 
456 

Agriculturist, 191 
Air, pure, 12, 316, 317 
Airplanes, 85, 282; mail service, 281, 
282, 283 

Alabama, 108, 319 
Alaska, 196, 198, 275, 276, 383 
Aleutian Islands, 154 
Alleghanies, 191, 194, 197 
Allegiance, pledge of, 54, 55 
Alliances, 92; entangling, 84 
Almshouse, 352, 353, 360 


Alphabet, origin of, 272 
Amendments, 10, 244, 245, 419, 444, 
447; Fifteenth, 381; suffrage, 381 
America First, 95 

American Peace Society, 91; Peace 
and Arbitration League, 91 
Amusements, 337 
Anarchism, 378 
Anarchists, 387 
Anderson, Ruth, 108, 109 
Animal Industry, Bureau of, 152, 
322 

Anti-trust law, 267 
Appeals, court of, 440 
Appearances, importance of, 342 
Appointments, 457, 458, 464 
Appropriations, 146, 147, 366, 435, 
436, 468-472 
Arabia, 153 

Arbitration, 91, 92; court of, 92 
Argentine Republic, 17 
Arizona, 213, 214, 441 
Arlington, Va., 153 
Army, 69-70, 71, 74, 82, 245; health 
in, 310; illiteracy in, 273, 274; 
post, 207 
Art, 341 

Articles of Confederation, 443, 444 
Asia, 86, 90 
Assessment, 366, 368 
Assessors, tax, 368, 369 
Association with others, 3 
Associations for cooperation, 28 
Asylums, 353 . 

Athletic associations, 339; team, 2 


491 



49 2 


INDEX 


Attorney-General, 423 
Attractiveness, 114. (See Beauty; 

Beautiful surroundings) 

Auditor, 407, 412, 423 
Australia, 194 
Austria-Hungary, 210 
Autocracy, 378, 387 
Autocratic government, 49, 87, 378 

Bail, 359 

Ballot, long, 408; secret, 390; short, 
388, 389 

Bank account, 5; federal land, 183; 
national, 451; savings, 183, 185, 
186; school, 177, 186 
Banking, 158 
Barn raisings, 24 
Beautiful surroundings, 103, 169 
Beauty, want for, 4, 256, 340-345 
Beggars, 353 
Belgium, 210, 211 
Berkeley, Governor, 286 
Bill, legislative, 427, 431, 432, 435, 
436 , 465, 466 
Bill boards, 344 

Biological Survey, Bureau of, 154 
Birds, protection of, 154 
Bolshevism, 378 
Bonds, 166, 187, 250, 374, 380 
Books, 34, 35 
Boroughs, 416 
Borrowing, 181-184 
Boss, political, 387, 388, 390, 408, 
409, 424, 425, 432, 466; rule, 388, 
390 

Boston, 279 
Boundaries, 208 

Boys’ clubs, 33; working reserve, 
161 

Bridges, 416 
British Isles, 210 

Budget, 174, 176, 367 ; budget sys¬ 
tem, state, 436; national, 468- 
471 

Building and loan associations, 187 


Buildings, public, 114 

Bureau of Agricultural Economics, 

151 

Bureaucratic government, 466, 467 
Business, 128; methods, 151; of 
home management, 125; the na¬ 
tion’s, 184 

Butte County, Cal., 201 
By-laws, 396 
By-products, 178, 219 

Cabinet, the President’s, 147, 454; 
the English, 461 

California, 26, 27, 201, 213, 216, 235, 
236, 260, 303, 304, 415, 441; Uni¬ 
versity of, 201 
Canada, 47, 241 
Canals, 259, 268 

Candidates, 388, 389, 390, 391, 392, 
399, 408 

Capital, 130, 166, 181, 184, 370, 377; 
the national, 77, 114; the state, 
64 

Capitation tax, 372 
Carelessness, 237 
Carey Act, 215 
Caucus, 399 

Census, 116, 141, 373; Bureau, 323 
Center, community, 303, 304; in¬ 
dustrial, 112, 133; of population, 
126; trade, 61-63 
Chancery courts, 440 
Charities, boards of, 355; depart¬ 
ments of, 355 

Charity, 353 ~ 355 ; organization, 355 
Charters, colonial, 419; city, 415; 
county, 415 

Checks and balances, 449, 450, 460, 
462 

Chemistry, Bureau of, 153 
Chicago, 114, 235 
Childhood, 126, 166 
Children, 124, 129 
Children’s Bureau, no, 323 
China, 159 




INDEX 


493 


Choice, of enjoyment, 170; in spend¬ 
ing, 168-172; of vocation, 125, 
134-139 
Cholera, 323 

Christian County, Ky., 31, 60, 258 
Church, 4, 24, 346, 354, 395; and 
State, 34S 
Churches, 117, 338 
Circuit Courts, 440; of appeals, 
473 

Cities, 28, 42, 58, 99, 101, 103, 105, 

113, 114, 120, 167, 177, 207, 208, 

an, 237, 238, 240, 257, 258, 275, 

330 , 343 ? 379 ? 407 , 415 , 4i6, 417, 

419 

Citizen, 53, 54, 57, 67, 118, 120, 128, 
2ps, 408, 470 

Citizens, 9, 54, 112, 132, 208, 382 
Citizenship, 42, 53-57, 64, 117, 120, 
121, 123, 166, 298, 329, 362 
City, 2, 15, 44, 59, 64, 101, 311- 
316, 368, 416; government, 44, 
417; city manager plan, 417; 
planning, 114 
Civil law, 407, 437 

Civil service, 457, 458, 459; Com¬ 
mission, 457, 458 
Civil War, 117, 248, 252 
Civilization, 190, 191 
Claims, courts of, 440, 473 
Cleanliness, 12 
Clothing, thrift in, 170 
Clubs, 32, 33, 35, 107, 108, 150, 152, 
155, 184, 185, 187, 210, 226, 228, 
302, 338, 413 _ 

Coal, conservation of, 219 
Colleges, 287; agricultural, 107, 108, 
144, 147, 148, 152, 226, 306, 307 
Colonies, 364, 419, 422, 443 
Colonists, 87, 244, 379, 395, 406; 

Mormon, 214 
Colonization, 191 
Colorado, 213; River, 216 
Commerce, 259, 262, 269; chambers 
of, 160; U. S. Department of, 


no, 158, 456; interstate, 156, 
266, 322, 448, 449, 451; Commis¬ 
sion, 266, 267 

Commissioners, county, 405, 408 
Committees, legislative, 431-434,465, 
466 

Commons, House of, 461, 467, 468, 
472 

Communication, 15, 87, 104, 151, 
272-284 

Communities, agricultural, 29; 
growth of, 67; imperfect, 2; 
interdependence of, 59; large and 
small, 58; membership in, 53-57; 
rural, 2, 144; state, 443 
Community, the home a, 99; the 
state, 58, 64; the national, 58, 
64, 65, 67-83; the world, 58, 
84-98; growth, 100-101; plan¬ 
ning, 113, 114; spirit, 114; sta¬ 
bility, 116; pioneer, 15; center, 
296, 3°3, 304, 316, 338; kitchen, 
179; meetings, 256, 402; organi¬ 
zation, 401-403 

Community life, 1-10, 12-23, 24-39, 
58-66, 67, 129, 133, 190, 256; 
community clubs, 32 
Companionship, 3, 335 
Compensation for service, 329; un¬ 
fair, 129 

Compromises of the Constitution, 463 
Concerts, 338 

Confederation, Articles of, 443, 444 
Conflicts of interest, 21, 60, 67, 71, 
72, 86 

Congress, 78, 112, 146, 147, 153, 156, 
158, 186, 197, 198, 200, 204, 206, 

213, 215, 220, 235, 259, 263, 266, 

268, 276, 279, 281, 299, 322, 345, 

372 , 373 , 381, 39 L 443 ? 45 °? 45 L 

452, 454, 458, 460, 462-467 
Congressional districts, 208 
Congressional Library, 457 
Connecticut, 225, 428 
Conscription, 80 



494 


INDEX 


Conservation, health, 168, 315, 322; 
natural resources, 210-230; Com¬ 
mission, 226 

Consolidation, church, 346; school, 
62, 294-296, 298, 315, 332 
Constable, 240, 396, 405 
Constabulary, 242 

Constitution, 74, 244, 245, 259; 

state, 10, 245, 305, 345, 379, 380, 

381, 385, 419, 420, 423, 424, 437, 

446, 465; of the United States, 
10, 49, si, 56, 156, 197, 207, 235, 
244, 245, 246, 276, 279, 281, 322, 

345 , 359 , 372, 373 , 379 , 380, 381, 

383, 385, 4 i 9 , 420, 439 , 443 - 444 , 
446, 447 , 448, 449 , 450, 45 i, 452 , 
453 , 454 , 460, 462, 463, 472, 473 
Construction of the Constitution, 451 
Consular service, 92 
Control, popular, 49, 378, 380, 386, 
389, 401, 425, 432 , 444 , 449 , 450, 
460; state, 413 
Convenience, 114 

Conventions, constitutional, 380,419, 
444, 462; nominating, 390, 391 
Cooperation, 24-39, 40“5 2 , 58, 67, 
82, 90, 94, 106, 107, 129, 141-164, 
182, 226, 233, 234, 238, 256, 257, 
263, 316, 320, 336, 353, 365, 400, 
401, 415, 443, 444 

Cooperative association, 29, 106, 
107, 239; national organizations, 
35-37 . 

Cooperative Extension Work, office 
of, 148-150, 152 
Copyright office, 457 
Copyrights, 449 
Coroner, 407 
Corporations, 368 
Council of National Defense, 81 
Council, village and town, 416 
Counties, 259, 280, 352, 379, 419 
County, 30-33, 34, 60, 63, 64, 193, 
208, 240, 248, 292, 365, 368, 395; 
as administrative division, 413; 


agent, 31, 32, 148, 151, 160; clerk, 
407; clubs, 413; court, 439; gov¬ 
ernment, 404-415, 423; infir¬ 

mary, 352; judge, 414; school 
organization, 293, 294; seat, 

32, 260 

Courthouse, 207, 338 
Courts, 204, 241, 246, 278, 360, 361, 
449, 450; of arbitration, 91; 

county, 407, 414, 439; federal, 
472, 473; justices’, 416; juvenile, 
362; state, 437-441; supreme, 451, 
452 

Covenant of the League of Nations, 
94 

Creameries, cooperative, 106, 107 
Credit, 151, 167, 182-184; unions, 
182, 183 

Crime, 113, 358-362, 383, 438 
Criminal cases, 407, 437, 439; law, 
437 

Criminals, 358-362 
Critical period, the, 443 
Crops, 126 

Crusoe, Robinson, 14 
Cuba, 323 

Cumberland, Md., 259; Road, 259 
Custom, 46, 47, 48 

Customs, 87; houses, 372; appeals, 
court of, 473 
Czar, 345 

Dairy conditions, 318, 319, 321 
Dane County, Wis., 60-64 
Dead letters, 280 
Death rate, 311, 313, 314, 318 
Declaration of Independence, 9, 10,. 
49 

Deeds, 193; recorder of, 193, 407 
Defectives, 350, 351; schools for, 306 
Defense, national, 78, 309; councils 
of, 160; Council of National, 73, 
457 

Delaware, 294 
Delinquents, 350, 358-363 




INDEX 


495 


Democracy, 9, 49, 50, 51, 79, 83, 106, 
167, 201, 277, 278, 286, 287, 298, 
345 , 364, 370 , 371 , 378 , 380, 381, 

384, 388, 389, 400, 463 
Demonstration, 108, 148, 150, 152, 
153, 154, 201 
Denver, 235 

Dependence, 12-23, I2 4 , 126, 129 
Dependency, causes of, 356 
Dependents, 176, 350-363 
Des Moines, la., 177 
Despotism, 387, 388 
Diplomatic service, 92 
Discoveries, scientific, 4 
Disease, 231, 317-320, 350 
Diseases, animal, 143, 152, 156; 
plant, 143, 152, 153, 156; indus¬ 
trial, 356 

Dissipation, 334, 335, 337, 338, 351 
District attorney, 407, 439 
District courts, 439, 440, 473 
District of Columbia, 473 
Districts, congressional, 208, 392, 
463; election, 428; health, 324; 
irrigation, 216; judicial, 208, 413; 
legislative, 208; ranger, 221; rev¬ 
enue, 208; road, 264; school, 208 
Domestic science, 300 
Draft, selective, 76, 77,366 
Drudgery, 104,106,159,335 
Duties, 55, 143,372 
Duty of thrift, 128,167 

Earning a living, 123-140, 190, 191; 

money, 5, 8; thrift in, 168 
Economics, home, 107, 148; science 
of, 131 

Education, 33, 40, 41, 61, 72, 89, 
100, 101, 102, 103, 119, 143, I 53, 
158, 170, 187, 205, 286-307, 310- 
316, 329, 340, 351, 358, 377 , 378 , 
400, 413; and the church, 347; 
national aid for, 300; physical, 
298, 299; money value of, 137, 
139; state department of, 305, 


306; U. S. Bureau of, no, 294, 
3 ° 5 , 3 ° 7 , 3 2 3; U. S. Commis¬ 
sioner of, 300, 307 

Efficiency, 167, 286; U. S. Bureau of, 
457 

Egypt, 273 

Elections, 386; primary, 390 
Electors, 453 
Ellis Island, 69 

Emergency Fleet Corporation, 269 
Eminent domain, 207, 256 
Employees, 72 
Employers, 70, 72, 75, 80 
Employers’ liability laws, 357 
Employment, 133, ,134, 159; bu¬ 
reaus, 133; service, 133, 159-161 
Engineering, office of rural, 155 
Engineers, 191, 262 
England, 47, 86, 87, 112, 113, 364, 
449,461 

Entomology, bureau of, 153, 322 
Equality, 9, 49, 136, 167, 329 
Equalization, tax, 370; boards of, 

368 

Equity, 441; courts of, 440 
Erosion, 226-228 
Errors, court of, 440 
Europe, 69, 86, 153, 165 
European countries, 113 
Excess profits, 374 
Excise taxes, 372 

Executive, 449, 452-461; control by 
Congress, 466-468; branch of gov¬ 
ernment, 420, 421-427, 435, 468, 
469; departments, 147, 435, 454- 
457 

Experiment stations, 144, 146, 153, 
226, 307 

Explorers, 153, 157, 191, 192 
Express companies, 267 
Extension courses, 107, 144, 148, 257 

Factories, 17 
Fair, county, 1 
Families, 3, 58, 309 




496 


INDEX 


Family, i, 5, 14, 53, 62, 101, 167, 
176, 205, 292, 309, 350; of na¬ 
tions, 86 

Farewell Address, Washington’s, 84, 
3 8 5 

Farm bureau, 30, 31, 413; council, 
37; executive committee, 34 
Farm life, 104 
Farm Loan Act, 183 
Farm Management, Office of, 151, 
152 

Farmer, the, ability of, 211; de¬ 
pendence of, 15, 16, 126; inde¬ 
pendence of, 12, 14, 15; pioneer, 
126; service of, 191 
Farmers, 64, 65, 72; isolation of, 
29; neighborhood community of, 
58, 59; President’s appeal to, 132, 
133 

Farmers’ organizations, 35-37 
Farming, business of, 16, 102, 103, 
117; dry, 199; improvements in 
methods of, 15 
Farmstead planning, 114 
Federal Aid Road Act, 264 
Federal Farm Loan Act, 183; Farm 
Loan Board, 183 
Fee system, 411 
Feeble-minded, 359, 361 
Fertility, conservation of, 211 
Finance committee, town, 399, 400; 

department, 436 
Fines, 359 

Finnish farmers, 167 
Fire, danger from, 113; depart¬ 
ments, 42; insurance, 239; loss 
from, 220, 231, 232; marshal, 
416; protection, 41, 42, 207, 222, 
223, 237-239, 243, 415; protective 
associations, 226 
Fishing, 141 

Flag, American, 73; loyalty to, 70 
Flies, 319 

Floods, 218, 219, 220, 231, 238, 240; 
protection against, 234-236 


Florida, 236 

Food, 59, 64, 78, 128, 141, 170, 318, 
319; administration, 78, 83, 176, 
457; and drugs act, 156, 322 
Foreign population, 69, 70, 399 
Foreigners, 73, 274 
Forest, 17; industries, 141; re¬ 
serves, 220-226; service, 155, 221, 
222 

Forester, chief, 221 
Foresters, Society of American, 226 
Forestry, 222; departments, 226 
Forestry Association, American, 226 
Forests, destruction of, 220; na¬ 
tional, 220-226; state, 225, 226 
France, 176, 210, 222 
Franklin, Benjamin, 42, 43, 279, 365, 
366, 443 

Fraud, 354; land, 205, 206 
Fredericksburg, Va., 248, 250, 253, 
257 

Free press, 276, 278 
Free speech, 72, 244, 276, 278 
Freedom, 44, 47, 73, 74, 78, 136, 167, 
278, 376, 378; of religion, 244 
Freight, 259 

Fruit growers’ associations, 26, 27, 
40,107 

Fuel, 78, 128, 219 

Game preserve, 154 
Games, 339 
Garbage, 176, 319 
Gardening, 302 
Garfield, President, 458 
Georgia, 127 
German population, 70 
Germany, 87, 92, 132, 136, 208, 210, 
211, 219, 245, 286, 357, 378, 461 
Gerrymander, 429 
Gettysburg Address, Lincoln’s, 7 
Girls, vocations for, 125 
Government, why we have, 40-52; 
organization of, 376-474; city, 
417; county, 406-415; township, 



INDEX 


497 


395-404; village and town, 416; 
local, 395-418; state, 419-442; 
national, 443-474; international, 
92-95; English, 461; Revolution¬ 
ary, 443. (The activities, and 
to some extent the organization, 
of local, state, and national gov¬ 
ernment are treated in each chap¬ 
ter in relation to the topic under 
discussion.) 

Government Printing Office, 457 
Governor, 421-423, 434 
Graft, 366 
Grafter, 135 

Grand Rapids, Mich., 130 

Grand Valley irrigation project, 221 

Great Britain, 219, 270 

Greece, 153 

Greeks, 70 

Guatemala, 86 

Habit, of cooperation, 35 
Habits, 87 

Hague, The, 91; tribunal, 91 
Hamilton, Alexander, 451 
Happiness, 8, 9, 67, 73, 103, 106, 

135,159, 306, 329, 336 

Hawaii, 194 

Health, 2, 12, 18, 19, 42, 43, 100, 101, 
102, 112, 113, 156, 158, 167, 168, 

299, 309-327, 329, 347, 357, 361, 
364, 377, 400, 414; . board of, 315, 
396; commissioner of, 323; offi¬ 
cer, 408; state department of, 323, 

324 

Health Service, Public, no 
Hearings, 433, 436 
Hebrew population, 70 
Herdsman, 191 
Hieroglyphics, 272 

High schools, 60, 61, 62, 63, 297, 

300, 301, 302, 377 

Highway commission, state, 262; 
commissioner, 250, 262; depart¬ 
ments, 260, 261, 264; signs, 45 | 


Highways, 63, 259, 260, 261, 368, 
377 . (See Roads) 

Holland, 91 

Home, the, 62, 72, 99-122, 125, 
148,166,180, 284, 302, 315 
Home economics, 107,148 
Home rule, 415 

Homes, 165, 168, 199, 223; insti¬ 
tutional, 353 

Homestead, pioneer, 16; acts, 198- 
199, 206, 223 

Homesteader, 205, 213; protection 
of, 203 

Homesteads, 203, 215 
Honesty, 167; public and private, 
37 o 

Hookworm disease, 320 
Hoover, Herbert, 78 
Hospitals, 353, 354, 361 
Housekeeping, community, 188 
Houses, legislative, 427 
Housing, 80,112,113; laws, 343, 400 
Humanity, 84, 89 
Hunter, 191 

Idaho, 207, 213, 223 
Ideals, 73, 74, 81, 287 
Idlers, 133 

Illinois, 59, 259, 392, 415, 423, 426, 
435 , 436; University of, 142 
Illiteracy, 273, 274, 356 
Illiterates, 383 
Immigrants, 69 
Impeachment, 452 
Imperial Valley, Cal., 216 
Imports, 372 
Income taxes, 372, 373 
Incomes, 367 
Incorporation, 416 

Independence, 419; economic, 124; 
price of, 14; Declaration of, 9, 10, 

49; War of, 74,443 

Independent Workers of the World, 

387 

India, 153 



49§ 


INDEX 


Indian Affairs, Office of, no 
Indiana, 12, 127, 225, 295, 296, 303, 

319, 423 # 

Indianapolis, 14 
Indians, 70, 191, 272, 449 
Indictment, 439 
Indoor relief, 353, 354 
Industrial centers, 112, 133; dis¬ 
eases and accidents, 356 
Industries, 17, 141 

Industry, 70, 81, 112, 128, 134, 218, 
309; bureau of animal, 152; bu¬ 
reau of plant, 152, 153 
Inefficiency, 435, 471 
Inequalities, 9 

Inheritance, 129, 367; tax, 374 
Initiative, 161, 376, 377, 380, 391, 
401, 434 
Insane, 352 
Insects, 154, 237 
Institutes, farmers’, 144 
Insurance, 151, 187, 239; social, 357 
Insurance companies, cooperative, 
239 

Interdependence, 12-23, 46, 59, 64, 
67, 86, 87, 129, 266 
Interest, on money, 130; business, 
387; common, 2, 28, 59, 63, 88, 
95, 129, 376; conflicts of, 21, 86; 
self, 71, 432 

Interior, Department of, no, 158, 
196, 204, 213, 323, 456; Secretary 
of, 9, 200, 201 

Internal improvements, 259, 451 
Interstate Commerce Commission, 
266, 267, 457 
Inventions, 4, 80 
Inventors, 72 
Investing, 168, 170 
Investment, 166, 181-188, 203, 205, 
231 

Iowa, 295, 296; State College, 114 
Irrigation, 199, 200, 213-217, 218 
Isolation, 16, 29 
Italians, 70 


Jackson, President, 457 
M, 359 ? 361, 407 
Japan, 153 

Jefferson, Thomas, 50, 146, 195, 413, 
45i 

Job, 168 
Judges, 246, 441 
Judgments, hasty, 21 
Judicial branch, 420, 437-441; dis¬ 
tricts, 208, 414 
Judiciary, national, 472, 473 
Jury, 246, 439, 440; grand, 439 
Justice, 95, 96, 136, 138, 241, 246; 
in taxation, 366; administration 
of, 420; chief, 452, 473; depart¬ 
ment of, 456; of the peace, 416 
Justices, associate, 473; courts, 438, 
439; of the peace, 396, 405, 438 
Juvenile court, 362, 440; offenders, 
362 

Kansas, 203, 213 
Kentucky, 31, 60, 258 
Keokuk, la., 229 

King of England, 419, 422, 443, 449 
Knowledge, want for, 3, 4; im¬ 
portance of, 21; scientific, 80 

Labor, 117, 127, 158-163, 335, 336, 
388; adjustment boards, 72; de¬ 
partment of, no, 133, 159, 160, 
323, 456; -saving devices, 104- 
107, 108, 336; unions, 160, 334 
Laboratories, 162 

Land, 100; the people and the, 190- 
209; banks, Federal, 183; laws, 
203, 205; policy of the govern¬ 
ment, 202, 203 ; political relations 
with the, 208; settlement act, of 
California, 201; survey of the, 
194-196; value of the, 18, 114, 
126, 203, 252, 256, 364 
Land Office, General, no, 196, 204, 
205; Commissioner of the, 200, 
202, 204 





INDEX 


499 


Lands, deforested, 201; desert, 199, 
211,212; idle, 211, 212; public, 
147, 158, 196, 197-206, 213, 259, 
263, 265, 266, 306, 387, 405; re¬ 
claimed, 101, 213-217; school, 205, 
213; swamp, 200, 201, 211, 216; 
timber, 204 

Lane, Franklin K., 9, 13, 68 
Language, 70, 89, 272-274, 286 
Laundries, cooperative, 106, 107 
Law, 45, 47, 48, 241, 244, 358; civil, 
437; criminal, 437; due process 
of, 245, 246, 440; fundamental, 
379; international, 92; supreme, 
419 

Lawlessness, 241 

Law-making, 49, 379, 427 (see Legis¬ 
lation) 

Laws, 45, 46, 64, 113, 133, 143, 147, 
156, 198, 203, 205, 206, 215, 216, 

240, 287, 288, 357, 379, 396, 420, 

443 

Leaders, 277; education of, 286 
Leadership, 26, 29, 30, 33, 40, 163, 
233, 286, 287, 330, 331, 339, 345, 

353 , 378, 387, 388, 399 , 4oo, 401, 

425; diffused, 466; control over, 
460-464; irresponsible, 462; re¬ 
sponsible, 388, 423, 426, 459-462; 
responsive, 426, 459-461 
League of Nations, 94-96, 277 
Lectures, 338 

Legislation, 387, 430, 431-436, 465 
Legislative branch, 420, 427-436; 
districts, 208; reference libraries, 
43i 

Legislature, 143, 380, 391, 421, 422, 
424, 427-436, 449, 453 
Leisure, 16, 105, 159, 333, 334 , 335 , 
336, 337 

Levees, 219, 235 
Libel, 278 

Liberties, 245, 246, 447 
Liberty, 67, 87, 106, 345, 364, 365, 
378; bonds, 187,374 


Libraries, 338; legislative reference, 
43i 

Library, public, 35, 37; traveling, 37, 
41 

Library of Congress, 457 
License taxes, 367 
Licenses, 156 

Lieutenant-governor, 423, 432 
Life, 2, 73 

Lighting, 101, 114, 400 
Lincoln Memorial, The, 7 
Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, 7 
Livelihood, 124 

Living, earning a, 5, 6, 123-140, 
198; cost of, 152; business of, 165, 
167 

Loan associations, farm, 183 
Loans, government, 374 
Lobby, 433 

Local government, 44, 51, 64, 395- 
418; local officers, 424 
London, 114 
Louisiana, 234, 406 
Loyalty, 70, 97, 120 
Lynching, 241 

Machinery, 15, 17, 79, 104, 105, 106, 
126,181; age of, 191; governing, 
4i 

Madison, Wis., 60, 62, 63, 64, 306 
Mail, rural, 158, 275, 276, 280-282 
Maine, 380 

Majority, 384, 386, 391, 432, 450 
Malaria, 18, 19, 154, 319 
Management, good, 165, 167; office 
of farm, 151, 152; thrift in, 174 
Manager, business, 27; city or 
town, 417 
Mankind, 74, 86 
Manners, 46, 47, 242 
Man-power, national, 76 
Manufactures, 112 
Manufacturing, 128, 141 
Marketing, 256, 268 
Markets, 26, 27, 59,118,158, 265, 365 







500 


INDEX 


Maryland, 225, 226, 259, 261, 289, 
380 

Massachusetts, 17, 183, 196, 224, 
225, 260, 289, 324, 379, 401, 427, 
441 

Mayor, 59, 416 
Mechanics, 72 

Mediation and Conciliation, Board 
of, 457 

Medical inspection, 315 
Members, 53, 68, 70, 99, 100 
Membership, 53-57, 76 
Merchant marine, 80, 269, 270 
Meridians, principal, 195 
Merit system, 459 

Messages, governors’, 422; Presi¬ 
dent’s, 460 
Metals, 128, 191 
Mexico, 153 

Michigan, 107, 127, 225, 380, 416; 

agricultural college of, 143 
Militia, 245, 421 
Mill, John Stuart, 467 
Miner, 191 

Mineral resources, 228 
Mines, 17, 70; Bureau of, 323 
Mining, 128, 141 
Minnesota, 126, 218, 225, 422 
Minorities, 391, 392 
Minority, 384, 386, 433 
Mississippi, 234, 253, 320; River, 
197, 218, 229, 234, 235; Valley, 
116, 191, 219, 231, 234 
Money, 17, 125, 158, 281; borrow¬ 
ing, 374; coinage of, 449; earn¬ 
ing, 5, 8, 124, 139, 168; orders, 
280; saving, 176 
Monopoly, 205 

Monroe Doctrine, 83; President, 83, 
93 

Montana, 127, 213; National Bison 
Range, 154 

Mormon colonists, 214 
Mortgage, 168, 193 
Mosquitoes, 18, 19, 319 


Moving pictures, 316, 337 
Municipal court, 440 

Nation, 1, 58, 67-85, 146, 259, 379; 

government of, 443-473 
National boundaries, 208; com¬ 
munity, 64, 65, 67-85; forests, 
263; government, 31, 44, 51, 306, 
307, 443-473; health, 322, 323; 
interest, 259; life, 87; museum, 
457; progress, 81; purpose, 9, 72 ; 
spirit, 68, 75 
Nationalities, 69, 70 
Nationality, 92, 97 
Natural resources, 80, 210-229 
Naturalization, 55-57, 383, 449 
Navy, 245, 456 
Nebraska, 203, 213 
Negroes, 69, 117, 118 
Neighborhood, 35, 58, 59, 61, 62, 64, 
99 

Neighbors, 17, 18, 24, 85 
Nevada, 213 

New England, 14, 40, 48, 116, 117, 
127, 167, 201, 218, 259, 292, 294, 

343 , 345 , 352 , 379 , 381, 395 , 396 , 
398, 401, 404, 408, 412, 413, 414 
New Hampshire, 225, 289, 441 
New Jersey, 225, 260, 261, 294, 

383 

New Mexico, 213 
New Orleans, 235 

New York City, 70, 114, 172, 176, 
279, 281, 282, 312, 314; State, 
127, 218, 225, 261, 289, 305, 324, 
404, 405 

Newspaper, 4, 160, 282 
Newspapers, 70, 275, 276, 277, 278, 
3 i 6 

Niagara Falls, 218 
Nomination, 390 

North Carolina, 225, 289, 319, 325, 
326, 408, 412, 413, 421; Club, 
413 ; University of, 413 
North Dakota, 126, 213 



INDEX 


501 


Northwest Territory, 306 
Nurses, visiting, 315 

Obedience, 121 

Occupations, 5, 6, 15, 17, 103, 124, 
127, 128, 134, 136, 141, 299; rep¬ 
resentation by, 392, 393 
Office, holding, 57, 208 
Officials, public, 134; state, 142, 
14 3 , 205 

Ohio, 127, 210, 225, 234, 380 
Oklahoma, 213, 257 
Opportunity, educational, 288; equal¬ 
ity of, 9, 10, 49, 105, 106, 136, 
167, 329 

Ordinance of 1787, 306 
Ordinances, 416 

Oregon, 213, 441; University of, 13 
Organization, 26-38, 40-52, 58, 92- 
94, 142-163, 376-473 
Organizations, 28, 29, 35-37, 77 , 160 
Outdoor relief, 353 
Overseers of the poor, 396 
Ownership, home, 116; right of, 193 

Pacific Coast, 191 

Pan-American, Building, 91; Union, 
90 

Panama Canal, 457; Canal Zone, 

323 

Parcel post, 16, 158, 280 
Pardon, 421 
Pardons, board of, 421 
Paris, 277, 282 
Parish, 406 

Parks, 102, 114, 242, 400 
Parliament, 461 
Parole, 362 

Parties, political, 385-387; labor, 393 
Partisan influences, 429, 432, 450 
Partners, 78 

Partnership, democracy a, 78 
Party, political, 424, 450; machin¬ 
ery, 453J spirit of, 385, 450; sys¬ 
tem, 386 ; Greenback, 393 


Patent medicines, 323 
Patents, 449 
Patriotism, 97, 139, 166 
Pauperism, 354 
Pavements, 365 

Peace, 70, 74, 77, 80, 82, 91, 133; 
conference, 93, 277; congresses, 91; 
world, 91 

Penalties, 358, 359 
Penitentiaries, 361 

Pennsylvania, 225, 241, 405, 423, 425 
Pensions, 357 
Persia, 153 
Petition, 380 

Philadelphia, 42, 43, 114, 279, 444 
Philippines, 194, 323 
Physical wants, 2; well-being, 2, 
298, 299; defects, 128, 298, 299, 
309-312; fitness, 168 
Pioneer, the, 12-18; life, 24, 34, 40, 
59, 100, 126 
Pittsburgh, 70, 121 
Planning, city, 114; community, 
ii3, 343> 344; farmstead, 114; 
town, 400 

Plant Industry, Bureau of, 152, 153 
Play, 101, 123, 330 - 33 2 , 339 
Playgrounds, 102, 330, 331, 332, 
400 

Pledge of allegiance, 54, 55 
Plutocracy, 387 

Police, 42, 240; private, 241; state, 
241; court, 440; marshal, 416; 
power, 207; protection, 415 
Policeman, 44, 45 
Politicians, 387 
Poll tax, 367 
Polls, 380, 390 

Poor, care of the, 405, 407; farm, 
352; relief, 353, 354; overseer of 
the, 355, 396 

Population, 141; racial elements of, 
69, 70; centers of, 126 
Portland, Ore., 235 
Porto Rico, 323 






5° 2 


INDEX 


Ports of entry, 372 
Possessions, 72 
Post, parcel, 16, 158 
Post Office Department, 158, 280, 
282, 456 

Post offices, 160, 207, 259, 279, 280, 
449 

Post roads, 259, 263, 279, 281, 449 
Postage, 280 

Postal savings system, 186, 280; 

service, 279-282 
Postmaster General, 279 
Poverty, 359 

Power, police, 207; sites, 204 
Powers, delegated, 447, 448; ex¬ 
press, 454implied, 451, 454; 
scope of national, 448, 449; sepa¬ 
ration of, 420, 449; of state de¬ 
partments of agriculture, 143, 144; 
of U. S. Department of Agricul¬ 
ture, 147, 155, 156 
Preamble of the Constitution, 49, 51, 
379 

Precinct, 208 
Preemption of land, 198 
President, the, 76, 84, 87, 92, 132, 
133, 220, 235, 267, 282, 391, 423, 
444, 450, 452 - 454 , 457 , 458 , 460- 
464, 470, 472, 473 
Press, free, 276 
Prices, 174 

Primary, direct, 390; preferential, 
39i 

Prime minister, 88, 461 
Printing, 275, 276 
Prisons, 359 
Probate courts, 440 
Probation, 362; officer, 362 
Producer, 83 

Production of wealth, 123, 131, 132, 
210, 211 

Profits, 129, 130, 135, 181 
Progress, national, 81 
Prohibition, 277, 356, 372 
Propaganda, 277, 278 


Property, 5, 18, 114, 119, 124, 198, 
364, 407; destruction of, 231- 

247; personal, 367; public, 242; 
protection of, 207, 231-247 ; rights, 
protection of, 231-247; tax, 367 
Proportional representation, 392 
Prosecuting attorney (see District at¬ 
torney) 

Prosecutor, county, 407 
Prospector, the, 193 
Protection, fire, 41, 42, 207, 222, 223 ; 
health, 42-44, 309-327, 357 5 of 
interests, 376; of property, 207, 
231-247 

Public buildings, 40, 400; improve¬ 
ments, 21; information, commit¬ 
tee on, 457; instruction, superin¬ 
tendent of, 423; library, 35; money, 
366; opinion, 276, 277, 287, 360, 
471; property, 242. (See Educa¬ 

tion, Lands, Officials, etc.) 

Public Health Service, 316, 323 
Public Roads, Bureau of, 263, 264 
Publicity, 277 
Punishment, 358, 438 
Purposes, common, 1-10, 24, 58, 68, 
72, 73, 74, 86, 87; of democracy, 
9; our national, 9, 51, 75, 78, 
104; world, 87, 90 

Quarantine, 143, 155, 156, 323 
Quick, Herbert, 301 

Race, 87 
Races, 69 

Racial elements of population, 72 
Radio-communication, 282 
Railroad administration, 267, 282; 
lands, 203, 204 

Railroads, 63, 70, 78, 80, 160, 184, 
191, 203, 207, 259, 265-268, 377; 
director-general of, 267, 457 
Railways, street, 172 
Randolph County, Ind., 295, 296, 303 
Range lines, 195 

Rangers, forest, 221; Texas, 241 



INDEX 


503 


Rate, tax, 368, 370, 373 
Real estate, 367 
Recall, 391, 441 

Reclamation, 101, 115, 158, 200, 201, 
213-217 

Reclamation Act, 213, 216; Service, 
no, 200, 212, 214 

Recreation, 16, 61,, 102, 103, 104, 
107, 159, 329-340, 347 , 357 , 377 5 
centers, 339 

Red Cross, 1^90, 165; Junior, 90 
Referendum, 380, 391, 434 
Register of deeds, 193, 407 
Rehabilitation, 351, 353, 359 
Reliance, self, 16 

Religion, 89; freedom of, 244; a 
means of control, 346 
Religions, 5 

Religious differences, 346; life, 345- 
348; qualifications for voting, 345 ; 
want, 4, 5 , 345-348 
Rent, 176, 181 

Representation, 392, 428, 463 
Representative government, 404 
Representatives, 379, 380, 381, 385, 
390 , 392 

Representatives, House of, 146, 392, 
427, 452, 458, 462, 463, 464 
Republican, form of government, 420; 
party, 451 

Reserve Board, Federal, 457 
Resources, natural, 80, 158, 191, 201, 
203, 210-230, 387 

Responsibility, 101, 102, 120, 139, 
426, 469, 470, 471 
Revenue bills, 463; districts, 208 
Revenues, 469 

Revolution, American, 87, 197, 198, 
206, 279, 447, 448 
Revolutionary War, 51, 197, 244 
Rhode Island, 441 
Right of eminent domain, 207 
Rights, 9, 21, 45, 49, 5 1 , 54 ) 55 ) 86, 
87, 206, 330; of accused persons, 
246, 439, 44°; bill of, 10, 447; 


constitutional guarantees of, 244, 
245; declaration of, 420; inter¬ 
national, 86; political, 57, 208; 
protection of property, 231-247 
River improvements, 235 
Road Act, Federal Aid, 264 
Road building, cooperation in, 42 
Roads, 21, 34, 61, 64, 117, 118, 207, 
221, 223, 248-265, 272, 281, 343, 
364, 400, 403, 405, 411, 45 i; Bu¬ 
reau of public, 155, 250; office of 
public, 248 

Rockefeller Foundation, 321; Sani¬ 
tary Commission, 325 
Rome, 70 

Roosevelt, President, 386 
Roosevelt Dam, 219 
Root, Elihu, 388 

Rules, of conduct, 46; for coopera¬ 
tion, 46; of the game, 330; of 
legislative procedure, 434, 465 
Rural mail service, 158, 281 
Russia, 153, 210, 392, 393; church 
of, 345 

Sacramento Valley, 235 
Sacrifice, 168 

Safety, 44, 45 , 7 o\ devices, 356; 

national, 70; public, 278 
“ Safety First,” 356 
Saloon, 337, 338 
Salt Lake City, 297 
Salt River, 214 
San Francisco, 235 
Sanitation, 3 * 7 , 3 * 9 , 3 2 3 
Saving, thrift in, 168, 176-180; by 
investment, 180-188 
Savings, 72, 165, 174; banks, 185, 
186; postal, 280; stamps, 165,166, 
187 

School, 1, 101, 123, 124, 168, 340; 
administration, 292-294, 405; at¬ 
tendance, 256, 288-290; bank, 

177, 186; committee, 40, 396; 
consolidation, 62, 256, 261, 294- 



INDEX 


504 

296, 31S, 339; citizenship league, 
91; district, 292; districts, 60, 
61, 63, 208, 257; the family a, 
120; Garden Army, 211, 212; 
high, 60, 125; membership in, 
S3; superintendent, 408 
Schoolhouse, 1, 12, 21, 24, 33, 40, 
103, 207, 287, 338 

Schools, 59, 64, 72, 102, 104, 107, 
117, 119, 139, 161, 223, 286, 290, 
332, 364, 407, 412, 413; high, 
61, 102, 297, 298; for defectives, 
353; normal, 287; private, 287; 
reform, 361, 362; special, 361; 
and health protection, 314, 315; 
of vice and crime, 360 
Science, 4; of economics, 131 
Sciences, 4 
Scientists, 72, 191 
Sections, of land, 196 
Selective draft, 76, 77 
Selectmen, 395, 396 
Self-determination, 136, 167 
Self-government, 379, 395, 396 
Self-made men, 23, 126 
Self-reliance, 16 
Self-support, 351, 352 
Senate, 94, 146, 427, 452, 457, 462, 
463, 473 

Senators, 392, 444, 457, 463 
Serbs, 70 

Service, 11,15,16, 124,127,128, 130, 
138, 141, 146, 167, 168, 185, 364, 
400, 450; compensation for, 129; 
responsibility for, 134; satisfac¬ 
tion in, 135, 329; organization for, 
378, 426, 454, 457; training for, 
138, 139, 329; of the home, 120, 
121; army, national, 132; of the 
church, 346, 347; employment, 
133, 159-161; military, 76, 77, 
139; states relations, 148-150 
Sewage, 101, 319 
Sewers, 43, 101, 400, 415 
Sheriff, 240, 406 


Sherman Act, 267 
Shipbuilding, 80, 112 
Shipping, 268-270; board, 269, 270, 
457 

Ships, 74, 268-270 
Shipyards, 71 
Shoes, 17 
Siam, 86 
Siberia, 153 
Sicily, 153 
Signs, highway, 45 
Slander, 278 
Slavery, 385 

Smith-Hughes Act, 299, 300 
Smith-Lever Act, 147, 148 
Smithsonian Institution, 457 
Social life, 16, 100, 102, 103, 119, 
158, 256, 329-340, 377; interests, 
61; needs, 151; wants, 3, 329- 
340; unrest, 387 
Socialism, 378 
Socialists, 377, 387 
Soil, 210; pollution, 320 
Soils, Bureau of, 153 
Soldiers, 200, 201 
Solicitor, county, 439 
South, the, 117, 127, 292 
South America, 84, 100, 153 
South Dakota, 126, 154, 199, 213, 
225, 294 
Sovereignty, 93 
Soviet, 392, 393 
Speaker, 432, 433, 464, 465 
Specialists, 16, 138, 142, 143, 144 
Specialization, 138 
Speculators, 203, 218, 223 
Spending, 168-172 
Spoils system, 457, 458 
Sports, 2, 3, 339 

Spotsylvania County, Va., 248-251, 
256, 257, 259 

Stability, community, 120, 191 
Standards, Bureau of, no; grain, 
143; grading, 151; American, 
159; of production, 211 


i 



INDEX 


505 


State, boundaries, 208; communities, 
58, 64; colleges of agriculture, 107, 
108, 144; aid, 261; departments 
of agriculture, 142-144; forests, 
225; health control, 322, 323-326; 
highways, 260, 261; government, 
31, 44, 51, 419-442; institutions, 
353 

State, Department of, 454 
State’s attorney, 407, 439 
States, 113, 213, 216, 274, 281, 379; 
New England, 116; Gulf, 116; 
Middle Atlantic, 116; Northern, 
150; South Atlantic, 116; South¬ 
ern, 108, 118, 148, 150; thirteen 
original, 196, 197, 208 
Steamship lines, 265, 266, 281 
Steamships, 259 
Storms, 237 

Street commissioner, 416; cleaning, 
42-44, 365, 366; lighting, 59 
Streets, 114, 400, 415 
Strikes, 70 

Suffrage, 381-383; woman, 381, 383 
Superintendent of schools, 40, 294, 
395 # 

Superior courts, 440 
Supervisors, boards of, 406, 409 
Supreme court, 373, 440, 45U 45 2 , 
472, 473 

Surrogate courts, 440 
Surroundings, attractive, 340-345 
Survey of lands, 194-196 
Surveyor, county, 408 

Taft, President, 386 
Tariff Commission, U. S., 457 
Tax, 244; school, 305; assessor, 396, 
405, 407, 416; collectors, 396, 407; 
dodger, 370; list, 369,371; pay¬ 
ers, 23, 381; rate, 23, 250, 251 
Taxation, 42, 60, 207, 260, 364-375 
Taxes, 40, 41, 204, 207, 208, 216, 
235, 250, 257, 294, 364-375> 396, 
401, 406, 412, 414, 416, 443 


Teacherage, 302 

Team, athletic, 24, 45, 55; nation 
as a, 72 

Team work, 1, 24, 40, 60, 67, 77, 81, 
82, 120, 121, 206, 264, 272, 286, 
3i4, 330, 336, 346, 355, 364-375, 
376, 385, 386, 387, 392, 404, 424, 
443, 450 

Telegraph, 85, 282 

Telephone, 19, 34, 85, 160, 239, 282- 
284 

Tenancy, 115-120 
Tenant, 120 
Tenantry, 152, 205 
Tenants, 116, 117, 118 
Tennessee, 255, 259; University of, 
145 

Terms of office, 424 

Territory of the United States, 197; 

Northwest, 306 
Texas, 127, 212, 225, 241, 259 
Textbooks, 305, 306 
Threshing, 24 

Thrift, 16, 128, 165-189, 210-230, 
335, 350 

Thriftlessness, 351, 357 
Title, abstract of, 194 
Toll roads, 259 
Tolls, 252 

Tools, 16, 20, 100, 181 
Torrens system, 194 
Town, 1, 292, 395, 416; clerk, 396, 
405; manager, 417; meeting, 48, 
201, 345, 379, 381, 395-399; 

planning, 343; planning board, 
400 

Towns, 2, 40, 58, 114, 343, 35 2 , 379, 
419 

Township, 60, 61, 62, 64, 195, 208, 
240, 292, 294, 368, 379, 395-403, 
405, 408, 413, 415 

Trade, 61, 141; areas, 61, 62, 63; 

centers, 15, 63, 265, 415 
Trade Commission, Federal, 457 
Traffic, 44, 45 





506 


INDEX 


Training for citizenship, 55; neces¬ 
sity for, 138; vocational, 139 
Transportation, 15, 17, 26, 27, 61, 
62, 64, 118, 141, 151, 203, 248-271, 
265, 295, 365 
Travel, 87 

Treasurer, county, 407; state, 423; 

town, 396, 405, 416 
Treasury, public, 435; Department 
of the, no, 158, 165, 183, 187, 455; 
Secretary of the, 470 
Treaties, 92, 95, 461 
Trenton, N. J., 166 
Trustees, school, 294; township, 405 
Tuberculosis, 318 
Turnpikes, 259 
Typhoid, 154, 317, 318 

Unemployed, 133 
Union, the, 58, 64, 419, 444 
Unions, trade, 28 
Universities, 287, 306 
University, 63, 64; of California, 
201; of Illinois, 142; of Oregon, 
13; of Tennessee, 145; of Wis¬ 
consin, 63; of Virginia, 50 
Utah, 213, 214, 297 

Vagrancy, 133, 356 
Valuation, 368, 369 
Value, 18, 124, 126 
Vandalism, 242 
Vandals, 231, 240, 242 
Ventilation, 12,311,316, 317 
Vermont, 225 
Versailles, 95 
Veto, 421, 422, 423, 434 
Vice, 113 

Vice-President, the, 391, 453, 464 
Vigilance committees, 241 
Village, 59, 64, 337, 416 
Villages, 58, 114, 208, 419 
Virginia, 225, 248, 250, 257, 286; 
University of, 50 


Vocation, choice of, 125, 134-139, 
168, 301; education for, 138, 299- 
301 

Vocational Education, Federal Board 
for, 300, 457 

Vocational guidance, 161 
Vocations, 124. (See Occupations) 
Voluntary organizations, 354, 355 
Vote, cumulative, 392 
Voters, 385, 386, 387, 390, 391, 395, 
404, 409, 453 

Voting, 57, 208; machine, 390; 

booth, 390 

Wage, living, 334; earners, 70, 167, 
30 9,356 

Wages, 129, 135, 159, 168, 170 
Wants, common, 1-9, 12-23, 64, 100, 
123, 124, 127, 138, 168, 329-340, 
340-345, 345-348 

War, 133; Civil, 117, 248, 252, 381; 
the great, 1, 51, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 
74, 77, 78, 79, 81, 82, 86, 87, 88, 
89, 92, 112, 136, 165, 208, 222, 245, 
267, 277, 286, 287, 351, 365; Mexi¬ 
can, 198; Revolutionary, 74, 87, 
197, 443; powers, 78, 267; risk 
insurance, 188; savings stamps, 
165, 374; taxes, 374 
War Department, 280, 311, 323, 455, 
468 

War Trade Board, 457 
Wards, 208, 413 
Warrant, town, 395, 396-398 
Washington, D. C., 90, 91, 114, 153, 
160, 161, 235, 279, 281 
Washington, President, 84, 93, 146, 
385, 387, 450, 454 

Washington, State of, 213, 217, 

223 

Washington’s Farewell Address, 84, 

385 

Waste, 177, 351 

Wastefulness, 176, 179, 211, 222, 223, 
237, 366, 410, 435, 471 



INDEX 


5°7 


Water, conservation of, 218, 219; 
pollution of, 314; power, 218, 
222; supply, 101, 114, 203, 238, 
317, 415; transportation, 268; 
works, 400 

Wealth, 124, 126, 129, 131, 141, 190, 

228, 377, 388 

Weather Bureau, 155, 235, 236; 
forecasts, 235 

Weights and measures, 449 
Welfare boards, 355, 356 
Wells, 19 

West, the, 17, 116, 292; democracy 
in, 380; woman suffrage in, 383 
West Virginia, 219 
Wiley, Dr. Harvey, 311 
Wilson, President, 9, 10, 72, 73, 386, 
460 

Wisconsin, 60-64, 188, 216, 225, 262; 

University of, 63 
Woman suffrage, 381, 383 
Women, life of farm, 104-107 
Woolworth Building, 171, 172 
Work, happiness in, 329; meaning of, 
136; men out of, 133; honest and 


efficient, 128; houses, 356; variety 
in, 340; the world’s, 166 
Worker, 127, 129 

Workers, 17, 112; housing for, 80, 
114, 121 

Workmen, 80, 112, 133 
Workmen’s compensation laws, 357 
World, the Old, 84 
World, community, 58, 84-97; in¬ 
terest, 259 

Wyoming, 154, 213, 383 

Yakima Reclamation Project, 217, 
220 

Year Book, Department of Agricul¬ 
ture, 31, 108 
Yellowstone Park, 220 
Young Men’s Christian Association, 
338 , 339 

Young Women’s Christian Associa¬ 
tion, 338 

Yuma Irrigation Project, 214 
Zoological Park, National, 457 































































































































































































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